


The Struggle is Real

by Bootifullywrekt



Series: The College Struggle [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Magic-Users, Multi, Please Don't Kill Me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2018-12-25 23:49:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12046875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bootifullywrekt/pseuds/Bootifullywrekt
Summary: Changkyun didn't know what he was getting himself into when he started college. He knew he didn't want to get too involved. He just needed to get his degree and continue writing his raps. It was that simple. Why make it complicated? Boy was he in for a surprise.





	1. The Struggle is Real

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my first time posting a fic that I wrote. I'm sorry if it is very rough at the start. My writing skills are not the best when it comes to making things flow... Anyways, enjoy lovelies!

The summer had only just begun, or that's how Changkyun felt anyways. Summers always seemed to go by fast, and he dreaded the end of this one specifically.

 

His first semester of college started in only three days. He was already on his way to campus now to move into what he knew would feel like prison.

It's not that he hated the idea of living in a dorm room. Honestly, the thought of being out of his parents' house appealed to him very much. He just didn't know anyone on campus as it was and definitely planned to keep it that way. He wanted to stay put in his room as much as possible in order to keep from getting distracted.

Changkyun was here for a degree in music production, not a degree in friend making. He already had a hard time making friends anyways. Trying to keep up with friends and school work all while still working on his own raps would be next to impossible.

His parents didn't know about his real major though. They both thought he was going into a major dealing with International Relations. They loved traveling and thought he would want something that dealt with more than just one area. They wouldn't much approve of music although it is very diverse in it's own sense. It wasn't as secure of a field salary-wise.

Changkyun didn't much blame them though. They just wanted what was presumably the best and most stable thing for him financially. He was their youngest child, their pride and joy. He had to make them proud, and he would one day.

For now, he wanted to lay low and not tell them the truth. It's better to be safer than sorry.

"We're here, Kyun," his mother said. 

Looking out his window as the car his father drove came to a halt he saw the dormitory he was to be housed in. It was huge, and it reminded him of a castle. He wondered how he managed to stay here at such a low price...

After checking in and bringing everything to his room, his parents were giving him his goodbye hugs and last words of advice. Then, with the click of the door as it closed, he was finally alone. 

The light brown haired boy looked over to the empty bed on the other side of the room. "I guess my roommate isn't here yet..." he said and with a sigh he began to unpack.

The room he stayed in was just as beautiful and castle-like as the outside of the building. The walls were tall and made up by dark colored stones that had obviously been filed down since the building was first built. The walls also had red curtains that draped along the sides of each wall. They had very intricate gold designs that almost looked like a bunch of swirls. Every now and then he would see what almost looked like an 'M' and an 'X' combined throughout the designs. 

His twin-sized bed was raised up enough to store dark colored wooden dressers underneath. Next to his bed was a small wooden desk and chair of the same color. Between his and his roommates mirrored sides was a rather large window with a wooden seat built in. It had similar red curtains that could be pulled back or left down over the seat letting whoever wanted to watch the outside world sit behind them.

There was a small bathroom that was also connected to the room. It had marble floors and sink, a plain toilet, and a large glass-door shower that was surprisingly modern. 

Things seemed so extravagant here. From what Changkyun remembers everything seemed pretty fairly priced here compared to most colleges this fancy. The tuition was fairly cheap as well. None of that really mattered for Changkyun though. He somehow managed to grab a full scholarship even though his test scores were only average.

It was then that he remembered that the dean of the school had wanted to meet him as soon as he got settled in. He thought it was an odd request, but seeing how odd this campus was at it is already he thought that it may just be normal. The number of students on campus was small, maybe 2,000 or so, and since he received a full scholarship maybe she just wanted to introduce herself or something. Who was he to complain? This was the lady who approved him coming here without having to pay for anything. He practically owed her his life in his mind.

After he finally finished unpacking and setting everything up, Changkyun changed into something that seemed a little more presentable considering he was going to meet the dean of the school. Sweat pants and a hoodie didn't really seem like a good idea for that. He decided to wear a pair a black jeans that were a little snug on his legs although not enough to be considered skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt with a white jacket leather jacket on top. It was mid-September so it wasn't extremely hot outside anymore thankfully. Changkyun tended to appreciate dark colored clothes and things with long-sleeves more than he liked to admit.

It took him a bit to find the building where he was meeting the dean. There were only about three main buildings on campus, each being big and castle-like, but there weren't any names on the outside of these buildings leaving the newbie with no other choice but to go inside and ask a professor who was luckily in their office what building he was in. 

He felt so stupid, honestly. The professor could tell how new he was, giving him knowing looks with small smiles as they told him the names of each of the buildings and which one was which.

He thanked the young looking professor as he left her office. "At least the professors seem nice..."

Finally, he arrived a Dean Whitacre's office. After knocking the brown haired boy heard a soft, "Come in," and he proceeded inside.

The dean was an older lady, looking to be roughly in her fifties or so. She had long gray hair that was tied back into a loose ponytail. Her skin was very pale, almost ghostly, and her eyes the color of emerald. The contrast was stunning to say the least.

"Mr. Lim, it's nice to finally meet you." Changkyun shook Whitacre's bony hand and nodded in agreement, too nervous to actually speak. "Please take a seat," she continued while motioning towards a brown cushioned chair in front of her desk.

The office's style was very similar to the dorms. There were similar curtains everywhere and the same stoned walls. Something that sparked Changkyun's curiosity the most was the giant "M" and "X" symbol in the middle of the floor. Whitacre followed his gaze to the symbol.

"Ahh... You seem to be taking to the school emblem very well, Changkyun."

Coming to his senses he looked into the older's sunken face. She looked so frail. "The emblem?" he asked.

Leaning on the side of her desk she responded, "The school was called the School of the Most Extraordinary in it's early days. It was a stupid name honestly. I guess that's something that hasn't changed for society nowadays. No one is original." She laughed loudly at her own joke.

Chuckling nervously, Changkyun nodded. "I guess not."

"I much prefer the current name. Star University. It just has a better ring to it, don't you agree?" She had shifted to the front part of the desk, now directly in front of him. It was a little too close for comfort.

Shifting in his seat the boy responded with a simple, "Of course," barely able to look the dean in her emerald eyes.

Whitacre sighed softly as she looked down at the boy, taking in all of his features. "You're so very youthful, Changkyun. That's why I chose you for this scholarship. I could tell you would bring a lively atmosphere to the campus. Our music department sure could use some help these days. They're so.. Oh how do I word it? They just seem like they're missing something." 

This took him by surprise. Why would he be the one to liven things? He didn't even want to socialize with anyone.

After nodding softly, obviously thinking something to herself she stood up off the desk and spoke aloud. "I do have one request from you, however."

"What would you like me to do?" Changkyun wasn't sure what it was, but he couldn't exactly reject considering his position.

"I want you to join a group, a club if you will, that I personally put together each year. Only certain people may enter. A spot recently opened as a student was.. kicked."

A club? This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Oh boy...

Taking his silence as agreement, the dean continued, "The group is called X."

"It's just called X?" Why was this school so odd?

"Considering it is a group that keeps up with anything and everything on campus I think it's very fitting. The group really handles anything thrown it's way so there isn't really one small placement or word to describe them that others would exactly understand." After finishing this statement she went behind her desk to pull out a paper. "I just need you to sign here." 

The freshman was baffled. He isn't even sure what it is he would be doing with this group. Did he even have a choice though? Testing his luck he asked, "And if I decline?"

She smiled at him. It was a smile that was neither happy nor reassuring; it seemed almost sinister. "Your scholarship is based on the group."

Changkyun sighed and looked at the marble floor. This is definitely not what he expected when he came here. He just wanted to get his degree and work on his music. His passion. Now he has to join a group that does 'anything and everything?' The boy couldn't help but wonder what he got himself into. He stood up, sighing again.

"Alright, I'm in then."

 


	2. Like Fire and Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things keep getting weirder and weirder for Changkyun. Why couldn't he just catch a break?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments on the first chapter! I'm glad some people are finding it interesting! I'm posting this a little sooner than planned because I'm not sure how my classes will be this week. I hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 2**

After reading through and signing the paperwork for whatever this group was, Changkyun began making his way back to the dorms.

 He couldn’t help but ask himself, “What am I getting myself into..? The ‘X’ group?” The young rapper simply sighed and shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

“You’re part of the X group?”

Changkyun stopped immediately, turning on his heels to see a boy who seemed to be about the same height as himself with wavy blonde hair that fell on his forehead. He was stunning if Changkyun was being completely honest with himself. However, something felt off about him and he wasn’t sure what it was.

Keeping his face as calm as possible he responded, “Apparently so.”

The other boy laughed, or maybe it was a scoff? “What? Why do you sound so unsure? It’s one of the biggest groups on campus, you’d think you would know if you were in it. Ahh, maybe you’re new?”

Changkyun couldn’t tell if this kid was being condescending or not. It was throwing him off completely.

“Something like that,” he responded. “I was only just informed the group even existed let alone that I would be joining…” There didn’t really seem to be a good reason to lie.

The boy opposite of him just scanned his face for a minute before nodding. “I’m Yoongi,” he said while holding his hand out, “I’m a junior here.”

Shaking the older boy’s hand Changkyun responded, “I’m Changkyun, obviously a freshman.”

Yoongi then turned around and began walking back towards the class buildings. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around X-boy.” He left almost as soon as he appeared.

And with that, Changkyun was left standing alone on the sidewalk.

“What the hell was that?” he whispered.

After staring into space, completely confused for about a minute he decided it would be best to continue back to his room. The sun was setting and it was beautiful outside, but all Changkyun could think about was how nice it would be to just sleep or forget about all of these weird things.

And sleep he did. When he returned to his room and found that his roommate, much to his pleasure, still hadn’t arrived he got a shower and laid down. Within seconds of closing his eyes he was fast asleep.

\---

He stood in an open grassy field. It seemed to go on forever. The night sky above was filled with stars as far as the eye could see. It was a clear night with a slight breeze.

Changkyun looked down to realize he wore the same clothes from before he showered except for his white leather jacket. His black colored clothing making him feel like he almost blended in with the sky. His pale skin like the stars. He was his own galaxy. Vast and beautiful. For some reason he felt like he could have endless possibilities within himself.

Holding out his right hand, palm side up, a small flame came from each fingertip. The flames were warm, but they didn’t burn. As he held his opposing hand out as well, small snowflakes protruded from those fingertips. Similar to the flames, they were cool but not freezing.

He should be terrified. He knew this wasn’t normal, but for some reason he couldn’t help but feel safe. Not to mention, it was only a dream, right?

“It suits you, you know.” Came from a silky voice behind him. It wasn’t quite as deep as his own voice, but it was still relaxing.

Turning around Changkyun saw a boy. The boy was only slightly taller than himself. His hair was a curly brown that fell just below his eyebrows. His body dawned similar black clothing to Changkyun’s own attire. Something else drew Changkyun in as well. The boy had dimples that could make anyone smile and fall for them. He was smiling at Changkyun and boy was it breathtaking. He couldn’t help but to step closer to the new person. Closing in on him, leaving only about a foot or two between them.

“Woah…” was all Changkyun could manage. He couldn’t help but feel thankful that he wasn’t having one of his normal nightmares. He was actually in front of some beautiful boy. This was a nice change.

The flames and snowflakes stopped as Changkyun dropped his hands.

The new face chuckled slightly, “You seem pretty calm through all of this.”

Changkyun looked around. Everything looked fine to him. It was calm in the field, nothing else was anywhere near them. “What do you mean?” he asked, “Everything looks fine to me.”

Sighing slightly, but not losing his smile or those dear dimples he responded, “I suppose so, but that won’t remain to be true. Things will get very rough and… odd.”

Ahh, and there it was. Changkyun new things wouldn’t stay nice for long, his dreams never did, but he could at least try to keep it happy.

“Odd? It’s only a dream,” he said chuckling slightly, “What’s odder than dreaming about talking to someone cute while having weird magic flames and snowflakes coming out of your body?”

The other nodded slightly while looking at the ground, the smile now faded. “Well, I suppose it would seem like that then. It’s time for me to go. Just remember to be careful about who you befriend soon Changkyun.” The taller boy’s body began to become transparent. He seemed to be fading away.

For some reason, Changkyun felt terrified now. It was like that boy was what kept him calm. “Wait! Please don’t leave!”

“You’ll see me again. Don’t fret.” Changkyun swore he could still see the dimples no matter how faded the other’s body was as he smiled.

He was gone now, and Changkyun couldn’t feel more helpless. His breathing became labored and his chest felt heavy. A panic attack was coming. The fire from earlier was now prominent on both hands, but this time it wasn’t as controlled. Small flames began flying off and hitting the ground. Soon there were bigger flames growing in the grass around him.

The whole field was now on fire. It surrounded Changkyun, and although it didn’t touch him, he could feel the heat. It was closing in on him now.

Changkyun fell to the ground, gasping for air as the smoke filled his lungs. Tears rolled down his face as he desperately tried to scream out for help. It was all in vain though. He couldn’t even breath let alone scream.

_Please_ , he thought, _someone save me_.

He woke up drenched in sweat and gasping as the clean air filled his lungs. He just sat there breathing for a few minutes.

When he looked over at his phone it showed that it was only a little after three in the morning, but another thing caught his eye on his outstretched arm. There was a small black residue on each of his finger tips.

Quick to rid himself of the dream he jumped up and ran to the bathroom to wash his hands and splash his face. He looked into the mirror as water dripped off of his chin.

“What the hell…” he whispered.

He quickly dried his face with a hand towel and walked back out the bathroom. He looked over to the opposite side of the room to see that his roommate managed to show up and unpack while he was asleep.

Changkyun knew he was a heavy sleeper, but damn.

He sighed as he climbed back into bed as quietly as possible so as to not wake up his newly arrived roommate. Changkyun tried to sleep again and finally after about an hour or so of staring at the stone covered ceiling he was released into a dream free sleep with hopes that things could start becoming normal again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I will try to continue posting regularly. I'm not sure how many chapters this story will have, but I'm banking on it being quite a few. Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thank you again for reading!


	3. The Time of Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun finally gets to meet everyone that he has to be around this semester. Of course, there's also the one he didn't think was even real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long!! My classes have been crazy lately. I will try to post sooner! There may be some mistakes in this due to trying to post it so fast, just let me know!

**Chapter 3**

When Changkyun woke up for the day, it was roughly 9:30 in the morning. He was awoken by the sound of his roommate trying to decide what to wear. He was quietly whispering things to himself like, “no.. no no that looks stupid.”

Eyes still burning, Changkyun slowly sat up. He rubbed his eyes to try and clear his vision. The bed creaked softly as he moved alerting the other to the fact that he was awake.

“Ahh! You’re finally up! Sorry for coming in so late yesterday, traffic was wild. I’m Alexander, but you can call me Ale!”

The black haired boy held his hand out to Changkyun as he stood beside the bed.

Wow, he sure does talk a lot in the mornings. Changkyun shook his hand and mumbled out, “I’m Changkyun. It’s okay,” before getting up and stumbling to the bathroom, his sweatpants clinging to his hip and his t-shirt scrunched up just enough to show a small strip of skin. 

After brushing his teeth and combing and styling his extremely wild hair into a tamed mane Changkyun examined himself in the mirror. His hair was pushed back away from his forehead. He thought the slightly slicked back style suited him best. Luckily the makeup covered up his acne scars decently today, making the freshman feel much more confident. His parents and friends from home had always told him that the scars didn’t look bad and were barely noticeable, but he noticed them and that was all he needed.

It was only Saturday, so he still had today and tomorrow to relax before classes. There weren’t any orientation activities this weekend either. They managed to all take place before move-in day. Changkyun thought that this would be a good chance to explore the campus. 

After finishing up in the bathroom, Changkyun walked back into the room to properly meet his roommate. They were going to be living together after all and he assumed that his half-assed greeting from before wouldn’t exactly cut it.

Ale was standing by his own bed looking down at his phone. The dark haired boy was maybe half a foot taller than Changkyun was. It was interesting to see how tall he was, but how lanky he didn’t seem. The boy was rather slim, but had wildly toned muscles that showed through even a baggy shirt like the plain blue one he wore. His dark hair wasn’t extremely short, but it was spiked at the ends above his forehead. Along with the baggy blue t-shirt, Ale wore a pair of dark blue jeans and black vans. He just seemed like the complete opposite of how Changkyun felt. Ale seemed to have himself together, working out and managing to look good seemingly without trying. Meanwhile Changkyun just spent thirty minutes applying makeup to try and feel somewhat confident.

Sighing to himself he approached Ale with an outstretched and bright smile, “Sorry about earlier, it was just really early. I’m Lim Changkyun, an incoming freshman. It’s nice to meet you.”

Ale shook the brown eyed boys hand has he smiled big, slightly hiding his own green eyes as he nodded vigorously. This kid seemed almost childish. How was he even here…

“I completely understand! I can be a little energetic in the mornings… I’m a freshman as well, but it’s only because I managed to fail so many classes this past year.” He laughed nervous as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked up towards the ceiling. 

_ So cute… like a child… I serious must protect this boy from the world what the hell. _ Changkyun thought to himself and decided that from then on, he would try to become close friends with this boy. Ale seemed nice enough as it was.

“Do you have anything planned today?” Ale asked, “Because if not, we could always try some roommate bonding crap.” He laughed loudly, confident this time. “The RA’s always recommend that for some reason.”

“I should be free from what I know. I just wanted to get a good look around campus today, honestly. I was pretty lost yesterday when I had to meet with the dean.”

Ale’s face immediately lit up with surprise, his green eyes almost seeming brighter than before, “You met with Hardcore Whitacore?”

“Whitacore?” Changkyun laughed, feeling much more at home than he had since he first arrived at this weird campus. “Yeah, I had to meet with Dean Whitacre to discuss the scholarship I was given. Its bogus honestly, but who am I to complain? I’m here for practically free.” The younger moved to his desk to sit in front of his laptop.

“Wait, so you’re the one who got the full scholarship?” Changkyun could practically feel the older’s glare on his back before he had turned around to see the confused gaze that met his own.

“Yeah, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Mine was just specific for some reason.” He wasn’t sure why Ale was so surprised by the scholarship thing, but Changkyun really really didn’t see it as something big. People got scholarships all of the time. He wasn’t really anything special. 

“Changkyun...It’s very rare for someone to get a full scholarship here. It happens MAYBE once a year..” Ale said this very slowly, letting the younger soak the information in.

“Wait,” Changkyun said as he completely turned around in his chair now, “You’re telling me that somehow I was just randomly given a full scholarship that’s super rare? But why?”

Ale shook his head as he leaned against the side of his bed, “No clue, but I’m sure it wasn’t random. You were told to be in the X club right? Each full scholarship person does and for some reason they completely change afterwards.. Some turn out good and others.. Not so much.”

“What do you mean, ‘not so much’??” Changkyun was feeling sick, his stomach was curling over on itself. 

“My roommate last year was named Gunhee, or #Gun as he liked to called. He was a rapper when he wasn’t studying. He came last year and was also made to be in the X club, but as the year went on he constantly became more and more unstable. I remember hearing him stay up at night mumbling to himself for hours.” Ale paused as he shuddered, obviously still affected by it. “And then one day towards the end of last semester he just… vanished. The school never let me know what happened. They just said they were taking care of it. I wasn’t too close with him anyways, so I wasn’t upset but it was slightly nerve wracking you know?”

“Yeah…” Changkyun whispered. He was looking straight at the ground now.  _ What the hell.. _

“But, don’t freak out. That doesn’t always happen with their new members.” Ale had walked over to pat the younger’s shoulder and comfort him slightly when Changkyun’s laptop lit up. He had an email.

It was from someone named Yoo Kihyun and the subject was titled “X Club Initiation Meeting Day.”

Changkyun just stared. He didn’t want to open it. He was too scared. Next thing he knew, Ale was reaching over his shoulder and opening the email.

“You can’t just ignore it, Changkyunnie.”

He sighed and looked at the now opened email. It wasn’t terribly long.

 

**From: Yoo Kihyun(mommayoo@mx.edu)**

**To: Lim Changkyun(rapperkyun@mx.edu)**

**Subject: X Club Initiation Meeting Day**

 

_ Hi Changkyun,  _

 

_ I’m sorry this is so late notice and I do hope you are already awake seeing as it is close to eleven. Today we are having the meet and greet for the X club to get acquainted before everything begins for the semester. We’re meeting in front of the dorms at noon. This will probably be an all day event. Again, I’m sorry it is so late notice. I know that I, as well as the other members, are very excited to meet you. _

 

_ Regards, _

_ Kihyun _

 

Changkyun didn’t say anything when he finished, he just stared. His stomach was doing flips. What was going to happen?

“Well, there went our plans,” Ale laughed slightly as he stood back up. “Don’t be nervous, kid. I’ll be here to talk whenever you get back okay? Let’s swap numbers too, just incase you need me.”

After quietly exchanging numbers with Ale, the younger got dressed in a pair a black skinny jeans with a grey tank top and high top black converse. He topped it with a maroon colored hoodie. It was supposed to be slightly chilly today, and Changkyun always felt more at ease when he had sleeves to fidget with.

When it hit was five minutes before noon, he reluctantly bid farewell to his roommate and made his way to the front of the dorm to meet the others. 

How many were there going to be? Would they like him? What would happen? 

His mind was racing. 

Once he made it to the front, Changkyun saw that there were five people already gathered around. He assumed they were the boy he was to meet..

“Excuse me..” he said softly. 

The boys all turned around. They were fairly intimidating to say the least. One was really tall and lanky with swooped back light brown hair and a glare on his face. He was clung to another boy he was slightly shorter but had broad shoulders and short dark hair with a look of confusion. The next was the shortest, about the same a Changkyun was himself. He had bright pink hair that was partially hidden under a black beanie. Next to him was another lanky boy, who was shorter than the first. He was medium brown curly hair, and he smiled cooly at Changkyun. It was welcoming. Lastly was a boy with silver and blue hair. He had huge muscles and made sure they were noticeable in the tight shirt that he wore. He was smiling as well. 

“Are you guys by any chance part of the X club?” Changkyun asked nervously as he scratched his neck. 

“Who knew he’d be so cute?” the curly haired boy said to the muscular boy beside him.

He cleared his throat slightly, trying to calm his nerves.

The next to speak was the short one in the middle. He held a hand out and Changkyun shook it. “We are. I’m Kihyun. This is Hyungwon, Shownu, Minhyuk, and Wonho.” He said while motioning down the line of boys as Changkyun shook each of their hands.

“It’s nice to meet you all…” he replied, scratching his arm and looking from one boy to the next.

“Don’t be so nervous!” Minhyuk said as he lightly hit Changkyun’s arm. For some reason he was much calmer now. 

He sighed in relief without noticing the glare Kihyun shot Minhyuk after the hit.

“I know this is all knew for you,” Wonho began, “Honestly, we didn’t expect to be welcoming anyone this year. Not after losing a member. We’ve all had time to heal though so it’s time to start a new chapter.” 

With that, everyone nodded. Changkyun assumed that he was referring to #Gun.

“We’re still waiting on one other person and then we can go eat. Are you hungry?” Kihyun asked. The others had began to talk amongst themselves. Changkyun was thankful, he didn’t like everyone staring at him.

“Very hungry. I haven’t eaten yet today.” 

“Good, I made a decent sized lunch at mine, Minhyuk’s and Wonho’s apartment.” Kihyun said. He held his chin a little higher as he said this. Clearly proud of himself. It made the younger smile. Seeing how proud he was for making food was endearing for some reason.

“Ah!,” Wonho said, snapping Changkyun out of his thoughts, “The slowpoke is here. Finally!”

Changkyun heard a quiet sorry being mumbled before he turned around. He froze immediately. The voice was extremely familiar. 

_ You’ll see me again. Don’t fret. _

Oh, but how?

Changkyun slowed turned around to meet the face he already knew. Shock imminent all over Chankyun’s face, he looked the boy up and down. He looked exactly the same as he did in the dream. He was wearing black jeans and a baggy grey shirt this time though. His hair was pushed back out of his face. 

The boy smiled nervously at Changkyun’s gaze. It was an all too knowing look. He could tell Changkyun recognized him. No one moved for what felt like years.

“Are you two just going to stare? What the hell?” Hyungwon said and it seemed to have awoken the other, the younger still unable to speak.

“Ahh.. yeah, I’m Jooheon. Changkyun, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter! Things are starting to pick up now~~


	4. Where He Belonged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun finally learns what the X club is about. He has to take in a lot of knew information and consider the idea that he's been lied to almost his whole life. Will it be too much for him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... It's been a bit dudes. I'm sorry! I know I said there would be magic, and as promised it's here. To explain though, I just wanted to say that by magic I mean simple powers that are granted. This isn't the same as powers similar to super strength or speed though. Its more of things that are of the mind. More internal I suppose. I don't know if that makes any sense, but hopefully it'll work out with the story, haha. Enjoy!

**Chapter 4**   
  
“Ahh..yeah, I’m Jooheon. Changkyun, right?”  The other was scratching his neck and looking nervously at Changkyun’s face, seemingly searching for signs of recognition. 

“So that’s your name…” The youngest whispered, almost inaudible.

Jooheon chuckled slightly at the comment. Everyone else didn’t seem to find it so amusing however.

“Jooheon, what is he talking about??” Kihyun questioned, a hand going to his hip. He honestly seemed like a questioning… mother maybe? His eyes were sending daggers Jooheon’s way and it was very understandable as to why he physically flinched. Kihyun was scary… 

“It’s--” Jooheon started, his arm dropping from his neck and reaching across his chest to hold his other arm.

“You know how risky that is. What if it wasn’t him?” Kihyun said, shift his weight and crossing his arms. Changkyun wasn’t sure what was going on, but by this point he had turned around to face the others while being right next to Jooheon. It was comfortable beside him. It felt safe.

Jooheon never got the chance to reply though because Shownu spoke up leaving the youngest there without a clue as to what was wrong.

“This isn’t the place, talk alone later. We have things to do.” He was short and to the point. It sounded very stern though. His whole being towered over Kihyun, but Kihyun didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by him. He merely sighed and pursed his lips before nodding and motioning for everyone to start walking.

It wasn’t exactly as long walk to Kihyun’s apartment, but it was agonizingly awkward. Everyone made small talk amongst each other, apart from Changkyun. Hyungwon whispering things to Shownu with a slight smirk, Wonho and Minhyuk competing to see who can confidently scream “Penis” in public the loudest--neither backed down until Kihyun yelled at them--, and Kihyun aggressively whispering to a guilt-stricken Jooheon. 

Changkyun stood off to the back for most of the way until it looked like Jooheon was about to cry, or more of felt like he was going to. I was like Changkyun could feel it in his gut? He wasn’t exactly sure but he new something felt off. 

The newbie walked up and squeezed between Jooheon and Kihyun, cutting off their conversation. He wasn’t sure how good of an idea this was being that he was new and Kihyun was pretty intimidating, but he knew that the dream boy needed saving.

“Soo.. What are the plans for today?” Changkyun said, and he almost instantly felt a warm feeling rush through his body. He thought it was maybe a feeling of relief, but he wasn’t sure what he was relieved of…

Kihyun only looked taken aback for a second before he composed himself, obviously thinking it better to let things alone for now. “We’re initiating you. That’s really all I can tell you. We’ll eat first and explain more when we aren’t so in the open.”

Looking around, all Changkyun saw were the large pine trees that lined the sidewalk on either side along the way to the other areas of housing right off of campus. They weren’t affiliated through the school, but most complexes around here worked with students and gave them decent prices. No one else was near them though. Even as they walked through campus earlier, it seemed as though most of the student were in and around the dorms on the other end setting up their rooms and unloading cars.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone is around now though,” Changkyun inquired. What was there to hide? This was just a club. A prestigious one apparently, but a club nonetheless.

He heard a chuckle come from dream boy and it sent shivers down his spine. How could a laugh sound so nice?

“No doubt it seems that way,” was the only response Kihyun gave before moving closer to Wonho to yell at him for acting childish or something of the sort resulting in him only laughing and continuing to poke Kihyun in his side. It was obvious that Kihyun couldn’t hide a smile though.  _ Maybe he wasn’t so uptight all of the time _ , Changkyun thought.

The younger boy was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Jooheon clear his throat.

“Hmm?” Changkyun hummed in response, thankful for some conversation albeit nervous of the person speaking with him.

Jooheon seemed to take a deep breath before continuing, hands in his pockets as they continued walking and neared the apartment complex.

“About last night… after the initiation, do you mind if we talk?” he asked, not looking at Changkyun at all. The younger was thankful though, considering he couldn’t take his eyes off of the other. Scanning his beautifully brushed back hair, adorable dimples, and very kissable lips. He couldn’t deny the beauty of the older boy. Even just the way he held himself as he walked seemed to emit a sense of subtle confidence.

“Of course.” He responded. The freshman couldn’t think of anything better than getting alone time with this literal dream boy. Although now that he thought about it… that was kind of terrifying. Changkyun wasn’t really one for dating, and he’s really only had one other real relationship and even that ended terribly. He wasn’t really good at communicating with people either; that’s part of the reason he didn’t want to get involved on campus.

“Cool, great…” Jooheon nodded and with that they were silent the rest of the way to Kihyun’s apartment. 

It was a fairly big appartment. It seemed as though it was bigger inside than it really should have been though…

“What in the world..” Changkyun mumbled as he hurried to take his shoes off and close the door quickly as Kihyun had ordered him to.

The front door opened to a modern looking living room. There was a three-piece sectional couch that was big enough to seat everyone there and maybe a few extra. There was also a huge 55in tv connected to an Xbox One and a dvd player. All of the windows in the apartment were covered with thick black curtains that helped to accent the cream tiled floors and black couch.

The kitchen was just as big and donned a double oven, gas stove, and large amounts of dark colored marbled counter-tops and cabinets. There was also a dining room that followed the kitchen. The huge table was made of wood and also colored black. In the middle of the table was an engraved ‘M’ and ‘X’ similar to the ones in the school. There was a ton of delicious looking food surrounding the emblem. Changkyun’s stomach growled at the sight.

There were two bathrooms and four bedrooms in total. One for each of Minhyuk, Kihyun, and Wonho as well as a spare bedroom. 

“Let’s get down to business then.” Shownu said as everyone gathered in the living room with plates of food. “Changkyun has a lot to learn about us as well as we do about him. So let’s start with an ice breaker I guess.” He looked around at everyone, hoping for someone to suggest one.

“Let’s do the cliche one where we say our majors and years!” Minhyuk said, laughing.

Hyungwon sighed loudly, “Do we really have to do this? It’s so annoying.” However he still continued, “I guess I’ll start. I’m Hyungwon, a sophomore business major.”

Wonho who sat next to him said, “Wonho, junior music production major.” His tone wasn’t so much uninterested but it didn’t seem like he was enjoying this much like Hyungwon.

Next was Minhyuk, “Minhyuk, sophomore education major heree!!” He waved towards Changkyun with a big smile on his face, eyes forming crescents.

Then Kihyun, “I’m a sophomore Art/Photography major.”

Shownu spoke, “I’m a junior Dance and business major.” It sounded very robotic, as if he had said it one hundred times before, and considering he was a junior it made sense.

And finally, the soothing voice of dream boy who was next to Changkyun himself, “I’m a second semester freshman music production major.”

Changkyun was endeared. He liked music too? It seemed like a lot of them did. It’s calming to know that he had a way to connect with them already.

“I’m Changkyun. I’m a freshman music production major as well.” Everyone nodded. 

He wasn’t sure of what to do next. This was such an odd initiation.

“Why don’t you just tell us a little about yourself, Changkyun? I know it’s weird right now, but I promise we’ve all been in the same boat when we started.” Minhyuk said, smiling the whole time. It really did relax him a bit to know that they all felt this way when they first came here though.

Feeling a little more relaxed Changkyun said, “Well… there isn’t much to me. I pretty like to just stay inside and play video games a lot.. I guess I also rap, but I don’t really think I’m that good.”

“Really?” Jooheon hummed and Changkyun could almost feel the excitement in his voice. Literally. “Would you mind showing us?”

“Yeah!” chimned in Wonho and Minhyuk both as they scooted to the edge of their seat, obviously excited as well. Shownu, Kihyun, and Hyungwon nodded in agreement.

“I uh--.. I can try.” Changkyun took a deep breath before beginning to rap. He did a rap about not being able to belong, but also not really caring. It was about being an outsider looking in, however it wasn’t solemn. His deep voice entranced the other boys seated near him and everyone was quiet when he finished, staring at him in awe.

“Not good, my ass!,” Wonho exclaimed, “Seriously, that was amazing!”

“Right! I could feel every word in my soul,” Minhyuk said while dramatically placing a hand over his chest.

Jooheon nodded in agreement, “It really was something special” He smiled at the younger boy, dimples ever so present. 

Changkyun felt the heat rise to his face as his cheeks flushed. He only mumbled a quick thanks before looking at his fidgeting hands that lay in his lap. Although the youngest was embarrassed slightly, he was more nervous than anything as he heard Kihyun sigh dramatically. 

“Well, I think it’s about time we explain everything. Dean Whitacre obviously didn’t inform him..” Kihyun said, pushing up from the couch to stand and lean against the wall by the edge of the hallway, closer to Changkyun. The others in the room all nodded and mumbled their agreements as Jooheon noticeably tensed up beside him.

“Explain what?” He wasn’t sure what else there could be to explain that would be so serious. Maybe it was just their group duties…  _ Is this what Ale was talking about? Was this the secret that hid the truth about #Gun…? _ Changkyun thought to himself. Jooheon seemed to shift oddly beside him at that moment.

Shownu cleared his throat, allowing all attention to go to him. “The X Club isn’t exactly what it seems...just as much as you are not exactly what you seem, Changkyun. We all know. We are all the same.” There were more nods coming from the rest of the group.

“Excuse me?” Changkyun was super confused. What were they talking about? The brown haired boy had no clue what they thought he was. There was nothing special about him besides the consistent nightmares that seemed almost otherworldly. Even his doctors thought they were strange, but Changkyun wouldn’t say that was something he was hiding.

“Changkyun, there’s no need to hide here. We all have powers here too.” Wonho said, his voice calming, but no calming voices helped make any sense of what was happening right now.

Jooheon shifted closer to the younger at this point and placed a hand on his knee. The young rapper couldn’t help but to stare at him, trying to let his mind wander far from here. He was so confused and honestly terrified. Changkyun had no clue what to expect when he was told to be part of this club, told that #Gun disappeared after joining, and told that they all had powers too. What was that even supposed to mean? His mind was whirling, but that hand on his leg helped to ground him and bring him back a little. 

“He really has no clue, Hyungs.” Jooheon’s smooth voice said. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. They sent us someone this green?” Hyungwon said, irritation laced through every word. “What now?” 

With that they all looked towards Shownu. It seems like he must be the ones to call the shots. 

“We take it slow,” he said, rather unsure of the idea himself.

Changkyun was shivering at this point. He wasn’t sure what was happening, it terrified him. Oddly, his hands felt really warm similar to in his dream… 

“Minhyuk, grab his arm. He needs to calm down before he burns the place down.” Kihyun instructed, concern clearly on his face.

Minhyuk did as he was told and moved on the other side of the younger and grabbed his arm. Immediately, he felt more relaxed than he had been in days. His mind felt so clear. 

“Keep him like that so we can explain fully, okay? It won’t take long so please so try to hold out.” Kihyun was now in front of the new group member. “They’ve never added someone to the group who didn’t know about their powers… There are plenty on campus who know they have powers, but could only ever dream of making it into the clan…”

Sighing, he continued speaking after looking at the group, the ground, and back up again apparently trying to remain calm. “There are people in the world who are gifted special powers from the day they are born. It usually runs down through a family, so I’m surprised your parents hid this from you. Were you adopted?”

After an odd look from Jooheon, Changkyun shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t sure how or why he was saying the following things considering he had never spoken them to anyone before. “I honestly have no memories before the age of 15. I was in a wreck and I got a head injury. At least that’s what my mother told me happened. I didn’t remember anything or anyone when I woke up. I knew basic knowledge things, but nothing about myself or life.”

“Memory wipe.. Hyungwon or Jooheon, have either of you heard of someone being able to wipe only parts of a memory like this? Had they have done it normally, everything would have been gone right? If it really was a head injury to that extent, he wouldn’t have any kind of memory…” Kihyun inquired of the two. The pink haired boy’s face had confusion written all over it. Everyone else seemed to don the same look.

Jooheon shook his head. Changkyun felt the other’s hand shake and tighten on his leg, immediately causing him to lay his own hand on the shaking one. He wasn’t sure why he did it, it just felt right.

Wonho and Shownu were both leaning forward, hands on their knees. Shownu’s face was scrunched in concentration, Wonho’s in worry. Changkyun could tell this group was very close. It made him wish he had felt like that with friends..

“Ya! Cold too? I let my grip slip for five seconds…” Minhyuk was grumpily mumbling to himself as he reattached himself to Changkyun’s arm, moving closer as whatever happened had scared him and made him move away from the younger.

“He can’t help it, Minhyuk,” Jooheon said softly, “His powers are only just now coming into light.. It’s really late for that to happen, but if his memory really was taken, it makes sense.”

Hyungwon spoke next, sitting up next to Shownu,  “It’s possible. The memory stripping. I remember my parents talking about a few mind readers and body manipulators experimenting on people a long time ago. The place was shut down though for humane reasons. It was obviously not the best idea. They told me that originally people used to technique to heal those who had emotional trauma, but it quickly became corrupt. The company began wiping the memories of anyone that upset them. I think they arrested everyone though…” his voice trailed off. 

Kihyun sat on the floor, his legs obviously tired. “We will have to work around it. I’ll talk to the Dean and see what she says, but for now we need to explain everything to him. We can start training him tomorrow. He has to learn how to control his powers before someone gets hurts. Classes start on Monday, and he will have to go. I’m sure we could have Minhyuk follow as a precaution, but no doubt that Changkyun would feel uncomfortable. Minhyuk ease up on him a bit! You’re overdoing the calming and he’s about to fall asleep!”

“Sorry…” Minhyuk mumbled and Changkyun lolled his head back a bit before snapping it forwards, waking up a bit more. 

“Changkyun, I need you to listen carefully, okay?” Kihyun said while looking the brown haired boy directly in his eyes. He had taken the beanie off and his pink hair was a mess as it flowed in every direction. Changkyun nodded in return. His mind was blank again, absorbing everything he was told easily and calmly.

Running his hand through his hair and pushing it back out of his face, Kihyun began, “You obviously had something serious happen to you when you were 15. Whether that was a car wreck or something else entirely is up in the air. For now, our job is to make sure you’re properly integrated into the group because no matter the case you were chosen to be here. You obviously have powers, considering they’re showing through during this meeting,” he pauses and takes a quick glance at Minhyuk to make sure everything is fine on that end.

When Minhyuk nodded back he deemed it okay to continue and shifted his gaze back to Changkyun. “If you truly did have your memories taken in any shape or form, they may have also tried to repress your powers too. That would explain why they’re so uncontrollable as well. If they’ve been repressed for so long, they’ve probably been itching to get out. You must keep in mind that our powers, while a part of us, are still a gift. Without proper care they can become corrupted. For some that means they will consume them…” His voice trailed off there. 

Just then, Minhyuk’s arm slacked a bit too but oddly enough Changkyun still felt calm, so he responded. “#Gun was consumed then?” Noticing the flinches from everyone around him, he took it as a yes. “I’m sorry… My roommate just mentioned it to me.”

“You’re roommates with Alexander, right?” Jooheon spoke for the first time in a while, his voice deep and tone lax. The whole atmosphere of the room had changed. It was so somber, and Changkyun hated that he made everyone feel so sad. 

He squeezed at the hand Jooheon still had on his leg and nodded. “He told me that he was originally roommates with Gun, but that he kept seeing him get progressively worse and worse throughout the semester until he ultimately disappeared. Honestly, he made me terrified to even come today…”

At this, everyone looked up from the ground that had gained their attention during the somber state and they all looked at each other. Each member’s expression was as sad as the next.

“Knowing this though, I can see it wasn’t your fault…” Changkyun tried to reach out to everyone with these words. He truly felt like they were good people. They seemed like they were trying to help him, no matter how annoyed they seemed by the situation.

“Changkyun.” Kihyun stood up now, holding a hand out towards the younger who took it and stood as well. Jooheon’s hand fell from his lap in the process and landed on top of both Kihyun’s and Changkyun’s as he stood next to them. Next was Minhyuk, and then Shownu and Hyungwon. With the final addition of Wonho the hand stack was complete and the air around them began to circle blowing a decent breeze through each of their hairs.

“For the sake of the Clan, do you promise to work with us to better yourself, your powers, and those who are around you? Do you promise to keep working on your powers for good instead of evil? Lastly, do you promise to remain loyal to the Clan forever more?”

So much had changed in these last few hours for Changkyun. His whole world was found to be laced with hidden facts and possible fallacies. He wasn’t sure how things would turn out from here, but he was sure that he trusted these boys. He trusted them with his life. Maybe he had just met them, but something deep inside him said this was the right place for him. He finally belonged somewhere.

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments please! If I made any mistakes I'll be sure to fix them. Thank you for reading!


	5. Dream Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun finally gets his alone time with Jooheon. Is he ready to hear what the other has to say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this took like fiver years to write.. I'm so sorry! I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for all of the comments and kudos!

 

So much had changed in these last few hours for Changkyun. His whole world was found to be laced with hidden facts and possible fallacies. He wasn’t sure how things would turn out from here, but he was sure that he trusted these boys. He trusted them with his life. Maybe he had just met them, but something deep inside him said this was the right place for him. He finally belonged somewhere.

“I promise.”

With that the breeze relaxed and all that could be felt was a light vibration that passed between their hands. Changkyun felt a weird connection to everyone now. It wasn’t that he exactly knew how they felt similar to the fictitious ideals of a wolf pack, but he had this intuitive feeling of closeness. For some reason the youngest figured it wouldn’t go away when he would leave them. This must be why they seemed so comfortable with each other.

For a few seconds no one moved. They just all simply looked at Changkyun, fondness seen in their eyes. After what seemed like an eternity Kihyun nodded towards Wonho, signaling that he could take his hand away. 

As everyone filed away from the small circle the vibrations and breeze halted altogether, the feeling still lurking in memory over Changkyun’s body.

“Tomorrow you will meet with me and Minhyuk to work on your abilities. We need to experiment and see what all you can do. Our main priority right now is trying our hardest to get your powers comfortable enough for you to be able to go into public. You aren’t exactly…safe for everyone right now.” Kihyun said, relaying everything in a careful way obviously trying to avoid scaring or upsetting the younger. 

Changkyun nodded. “I understand.” 

He could feel how close Jooheon was beside him, sending shivers through his body. 

“Kihyun, I’d like to be there tomorrow as well. I think it would be beneficial in case you need to search his mind for memories.” Jooheon said, laying a warm hand on the younger’s shoulder.

Kihyun looked annoyed. The others had begun filling into other rooms at this point. Minhyuk and Wonho went into Minhyuk’s room as they discussed some video game, and Shownu and Hyungwon went into the dining room looking for more food. 

Kihyun looking directly into Jooheon’s eyes, sending unexplained daggers his way. 

“It’s not like that, hyung.” Jooheon said, sounding very offended with anger creeping into his voice as he moved to be standing almost in front of the younger. “I’m just worried that we need to be careful with whatever memories start creeping up. We have to be careful that we don’t tear them out and cause him to go overboard like… him.”

His voice trailing off caused Changkyun to grab his hand. Changkyun’s chest hurt and it wasn’t of his own doing. 

Kihyun sighed, defeated. “Fine, but be serious about everything okay? If you’re serious then you’ll definitely be a good asset for the process. Just remember not to go overboard on the protection Jooheon. I understand to an extent, but he will have to go through some uncomfortable changes in order to adjust…”

With that the conversation was over and Kihyun said the initiation was done for the night, allowing Jooheon and Changkyun to leave.

They walked outside, the night crisp air causing the younger to shiver slightly and pull his hood over his head.

“You wanted to talk, right?” he said to Jooheon, breaking the otherwise comfortable silence as they walked down the same path as earlier, the trees only visible by the few street lamps that lined the way.

“Mhm,” he hummed in return, hands in his pockets. “Would you mind coming to my dorm room? It has similar protections to the apartment so people can’t eavesdrop.”

So that’s why they waited to speak about everything until the apartment. It seemed obvious that a group of people with powers would need somewhere secretive to talk, but it still surprised him that the protection was extended to personal rooms.

“Does my room have it as well?” the younger asked.

Jooheon didn’t speak for a moment, allowing himself time to form an answer. “No, you still share a room with someone that I assume doesn’t have powers. I don’t know much about Alexander, which is odd considering we usually are informed on a good level about each student. Be careful with him, would you? Gunhee… he mentioned a lot of weird things about Alexander.” Jooheon’s hands fell out of his pockets and found there way to Changkyun’s shoulders, stopping him and forcing him to look into his eyes. “Promise me?”

“Yeah, of course.” The shorter boy responded. He was serious and Changkyun didn’t want to second guess his judgment. He trusted Jooheon, just as he trusted the others in the clan. Jooheon took his hands off Changkyun’s shoulders after staring for a moment and began walking again causing the younger to have to jog slightly to catch up after the sudden movement.

The rest of the walk was in silence. Not that Changkyun really minded though. It was comfortable. Jooheon kept switching his stares from the arrangement of stars and the moon in the sky to the ground, his hands staying warm in the pockets of his dark jeans. 

Oddly enough, it was relaxing for the younger. Yes, he had only just met this guy--in a dream nonetheless--, but this moment was probably the most normal moment he has had since he got on campus. Everything else has been filled with revelations and uncertainties. Now that he had the chance, Changkyun could finally think for himself. 

He was in college now. He was added to the X club which he now knew as the clan. They all had some sort of powers to which he didn’t know the extent. He has similar powers. His own memories possibly hold secrets that could be detrimental… The freshman mentally sighed. 

_ “How did I go from being a loner who rapped and played video games in the safety of his room all of the time to somehow having this extravagant past?”  _ The younger thought to himself.

Jooheon laughed just as the younger thought this.

“What?” he questioned aloud. “Oh, please don’t tell me it’s that…”

The other just chuckled as a response and the neared the dorms entrance. Great, now his thoughts weren’t even safe. Although, it didn’t seem to upset him that much. It was only nerve wracking considering his thoughts trailed off easily and  _ “Oh God,” _ he thought, “ _ Please tell me you haven’t heard me think anything about you??” _

Jooheon merely laughed softly as he held to door open for the younger and beckoned him inside the dorm building. Changkyun groaned as he stepped into the lobby of the castle-like dorms. “ _ How embarrassing…” _

They finally arrived at Jooheon’s dorm room, and it happened to be on the same floor as Changkyun’s, just a couple of doors down. The setup was very similar. The walls were draped with the same red curtains and the same kind of furniture. The only difference was that since Jooheon had the room to himself he pushed the beds together on the far side of the room and he had stacked the dressers on the other side. One desk was covered in a variety of books and blank sheet music, the other with a keyboard, laptop, and big headphones. One the bed was a plain black bedspread with a few stuffed animals on top. “ _ Cute….SHIT” _

Jooheon was laughing again. Changkyun groaned. “Are you always going to be reading my mind?”

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked as he sat on the bed after taking his shoes off, motioning for Changkyun to do the same. Changkyun did so and sat next to the older boy but crossed his legs and turned to where he was looking directly at the questioner.

“It’s not that it bothers me… It’s just embarrassing.”

“I don’t suppose anything would bother us for a bit..” Jooheon said with a smirk.

“What do you mean?” Changkyun couldn’t tell if he was insinuating something or if he was serious. This boy could be so odd sometimes.

“Well, now that we’re here I should probably explain the dream. As you’ve guessed, I can read minds. I can also enter them too, just as I did in your dream. However, things are different when it comes to you. I haven’t been able to successfully dream jump before...Hence why Kihyun was so pissed off earlier. For some reason though, I just knew it would work with you. I’m not completely sure yet, but I think I have an explanation for how we’ve both been feeling. You’ve felt my emotion changes correct? I’ve seen the looks you give me.”

Changkyun simply nodded. Nothing could really surprise him at this point.

“I’ve noticed yours too. There’s a reason I jumped into your dream last night. Something felt off, and I’m assuming I was right considering the screaming I heard when I left the dream.”

The nightmares… Changkyun hadn’t realized that they made him scream. His parents had never said anything. Then again, how much did he really know about them?

“So… What are you saying?” Changkyun was almost already sure of what the answer was. He was new to this world, but had seen enough movies and read enough books to know how this cliche went.

“It’s definitely a cliche,” Jooheon laughed at the younger’s thought and Changkyun couldn’t help but to smile at those god forsaken dimples. He sighed softly and looked back into the younger’s eyes before continuing, “We call it an equilibrium of souls. It’s where the powers we were gifted harmonize with each other as well as our spirits. It’s complicated when you get into all of the details but on the surface I suppose it’s the same as any other Soulmate story…”  his voice trailed off and his smile went away. Changkyun felt the worry.

“Then we’ll just have to make it different from the other Soulmate stories.” Changkyun replied. It was a simple statement, but he could tell how much power it held over the other. His face lit up. 

“Really? You’re not freaked out by this?” His questions were frantic and anxious, but his face and heart were full of hope.

Changkyun couldn’t help but smile as the older grabbed his hands and pulled him closer. “Honestly, after earlier today, this is pretty easy to be okay with. Besides, you don’t seem so bad.” He took one of his hands from Jooheon’s hold to playfully push on his shoulder, letting his hand fall onto the other’s knee afterwards. That sat there smiling at each other, and Changkyun honestly couldn’t believe he literally had a soulmate. 

“Could you promise me something though?” Changkyun asked.

The other nodded, “Anything.”

“Try not to read my mind unless it’s extremely necessary, okay? I really don’t mind it, but I do like privacy.”

The request elicited a laugh from the dimple-studded boy across from him. His eyes turned to crescents as his laugh, like that of music, filled Chagkyun’s ears. “Alright,” he said, “But only if you agree to go on a date with me tonight.”

The younger’s cheeks flushed red accompanied by his stomach turning over on itself. This boy was so straightforward and it took Changkyun by surprise. He had taken the other for the shy type. He checked his phone for the time, ignoring the extreme amounts of messages from his roommate. “Jooheon it’s literally Midnight, how could we go on a date this la-... oh… right. Dreams.” Flustered, the younger looked at his hands in his lap. The whole powers thing was going to take some getting use to obviously.

Jooheon laid a hand on top of Changkyun’s causing him to look up into the older’s eyes. “I’ll be waiting for you there okay? Just go to sleep tonight and I’ll handle the rest. Actually… I honestly don’t know how comfortable I am with you being in there with Ale…”

“He hasn’t done anything bad to me so far, but I’ll keep my eye on him, okay?”

Jooheon nodded in return, seemingly more relaxed. “Okay, but the second things get fishy we need to see about getting you moved into another room. You could move in here if it becomes necessary.” He was obviously worried about Changkyun. The younger didn’t need some weird Soulmate connection to know that. It was cute. 

“I’ll be fine, Jooheonie.” He tested out the nickname, and it was successful in making the other smile and show those god sent dimples. They haven’t known each other long, but things felt easy and comfortable. It was nice.

“I should get going,” Changkyun said, causing Jooheon to frown. He patted the older boy’s hand and sighed. “Apparently we won’t be separated long, Dream Boy.” With a smirk he got off the bed and waved as he left the room, returning to his own that happened to be empty.

It was quite a surprise yet a relief to see that Ale wasn’t there. After taking a quick shower and putting a pair of baggy gym shorts and plain white t-shirt on, Changkyun sat on his bed and looked at the messages from Ale.

**From: Ale 7:58P.M.**

**_Everything okay, dude?_ **

**From: Ale 8:23P.M.**

**_Do you need an excuse to leave? This thing seems like it’s taking forever._ **

**From: Ale 8:40P.M.**

**_I’m assuming you ate with them so I went ahead and went out to eat. Hope you’re okay still._ **

**From: Ale 8:55P.M.**

**_Well, At least message me when you can so I know you’re alive or something bro._ **

**From: Ale 9:30P.M.**

**_Maybe your phone is on silent or something and you’re just busy. Either way, I hope you tell me what’s going on soon._ **

**From: Ale 9:35P.M.**

**_Hopefully that didn’t come across mean, just worried._ **

**From: Ale 10:00P.M.**

**_I won’t be here when you get back. Family emergency._ **

 

Changkyun sighed. “What the hell…” This was crazy. He understands that Ale was worried, but he knew that it was an initiation. “And why was he so curious as to what was going on?”

 

Jooheon had thankfully given Changkyun his number while they were talking in his room earlier and Changkyun took a screenshot of the messages and pulled it up in a chat with him.

 

**To: Dream Boy 1:01 A.M.**

**_*photo attachment*_ **

**_Is this what you meant by odd?_ **

 

Laying down on his bed, he waited for Jooheon’s response. The room was dark, which usually made him feel uncomfortable, but tonight he didn’t seem to care. Too much was running through his mind. “What a wild day…” He sighed and laid an arm over his forehead, the other outstretched beside his body holding the phone. It was only a few more seconds before he felt the phone vibrate.

 

**From: Dream Boy 1:02 A.M.**

**_*Angry face emoticon* We will talk with Kihyun tomorrow. Something just isn’t right about him. Don’t worry for now. Act normal and then sleep so we can meet please~_ **

**To: Dream Boy 1:02 A.M.**

**_Sir, yes sir :)_ **

 

He smiled as he opened the chat with Ale. Jooheon told him to act normal, and he supposes that normal people would respond and say they’re sorry or something.

 

**To: Ale 1:03 A.M.**

**_Sorry dude. Things went longer than planned. It was great. Hope all is well with your family. See ya._ **

 

When he felt content with the message and pressed sent, Changkyun finally laid his phone on his desk and placed his head on the pillow. With the hopes of seeing his Dream Boy, he slipped into sleep easily within minutes.

 

Changkyun looked up as he laid his eyes on the open field in which he had originally met Jooheon in the last dream. The sky is just as clear this night as it was then. Changyun wore slightly ripped jeans, a fitted black t-shirt, and his black converse. 

Turning around, he saw his beautiful dream boy standing by a red quilted blanket that was laid out on the ground with a wicker basket on top. His hair was covering his forehead in soft, brown curls. Jooheon wore tight black pants and a gray v-cut shirt. As humane as this could possibly be, Changkyun couldn’t help but think that his date looked other worldly.

“Hey,” Jooheon said as the younger strood over to him. 

“This is… crazy,” Changkyun said with a breathless laugh. He only broke eye contact to glance at the blanket and basket for a brief moment before looking back into Jooheon’s deep brown eyes.

“I suppose so,” he responding, flashing a beautiful smile with even more beautiful dimples. “Shall we?” Jooheon asked as he motioned towards the blanket. 

As both sat down, Changkyun felt the cool breeze on his neck. It wasn’t cold, but it was a pleasant chill.

“So, you’re in my dream right?”

Jooheon nodded as he started taking out the assorted snacks from the basket and laying them out. There were some cut up apple slices, orange slices, and a bunch of grapes. There was also a bottle of orange juice and a couple of glasses. 

“Technically, I jumped into your mind. Mind reading and manipulation are my powers. They can work in a variety of ways. I could help coerce someone into thinking a way they refused to, or even make people have hallucinations. There’s the obvious simple looking into someone’s mind and hearing their thoughts, but sometimes I’m able to get them to unravel old thoughts as well. That part is extremely dangerous though so Kihyun doesn’t even want me attempting to practice it.”

“Ahh… I see. I wonder what all my power entails..” Changkyun looked at the sky as he remembered his first time in this field. The flames that were on his fingertips, and the cold ice that came from his others. “Do you think it’s just manipulation over fire and water?”

Jooheon thought for a second before speaking, somehow managing to hold Changkyun’s hand in the few minutes before as they were right next to each other. He leaned back to lay down and look at the sky, causing the younger to do the same with their hands still intertwined between them. There were slight electric pulses between their hands at first that eventually settled down. Changkyun figured it was probably just something to do with the soulmate stuff.

“Honestly, there’s no telling if that’s all it is and to what extent the powers are. Usually we can go by the family lines and see the possibilities since powers are usually passed down through genetics from the original gifted ones, but seeing as we have no clue about your family just yet, the possibilities are endless…” Jooheon squeezed the younger’s hand lightly before rubbing his thumb in circles on it.

“My family…” Changkyun began, a small tear escaping his eyes as that situation finally started to hit him, “My mom and dad have been there for me ever since the accident. It’s hard to think that they could’ve lied to me about anything… Jooheon, I really hope they just didn’t want to tell me about my powers… I really don’t want to think that they’re bad people. I-.. I c-could handle t-that” his words were becoming cut off by sobs as he began to cry. Luckily, his powers were staying at bay for the moment, and maybe that had something to do with Jooheon holding his hand. It was so comforting.  

“Shh…” Jooheon had sat up now and pulled Changkyun into his lap as he held him in a big hug. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure everything. And I’m going to be by your side the whole way, okay Changkyunnie?” 

The younger nodded against the other’s neck, refusing to let him go. He was too embarrassed that he had broken down and cried during their date, not to mention the fact that Jooheon smelled amazing. It was a thick, sweet smell. Almost like honey. 

They stayed like this, only shifting to lay down, Changkyun in the older boy’s arms cuddled into his side. Neither spoke for a while. It was relaxing and that was what Changkyun really needed right now. His life was chaos, and he was struggling to keep up with all of the new changes. Maybe...just maybe they’d be bearable with Jooheon by his side.

“Jooheon…?”

“Hmm..?” he hummed in response, and the younger could feel his heartbeat jump a bit making him smile. Jooheon always tried to seem so calm around Changkyun, it was cute to see him surprised.

“Are we like… dating now or…?”

“Do you want us to be?”

In response, all Changkyun could manage to do was snuggle closer to Jooheon. Both of their faces were flushed with embarrassment and Jooheon just nodded to show that he understood. 

_ “Mine then _ ” he thought, a small pout on his face while hoping that Jooheon was listening right now.

“Yours.” he said.

Then Changkyun’s alarm went off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I wanted to say thank you for the kudos and comments. This is my first time posting my writings so it's nice to see that people actually do like it. I hope this chapter was to your liking! Let me know what you think in the comments, lovelies~~~


	6. Simply Part of the Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The struggle seems very consistent in Changkyun's life right now, especially with his roommate and parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait! College has been wild lately. Classes got so busy, but they have finally died down for a bit. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Prepare for a lot of feels~~~

 

_ “Mine then _ ” he thought, a small pout on his face while hoping that Jooheon was listening right now.

“Yours.” he said.

Then Changkyun’s alarm went off.

 

He groaned into his pillow as the feeling of Jooheon holding him faded away. He couldn’t help but curse this dream for being much faster than real life. He wanted to spend more time with his dream boy. 

And it was official. Dream boy was his. It had only been two days since Changkyun got onto campus, but it’s felt like an eternity to him. So much has happened and been revealed. He looked at his phone and saw that it was only five in the morning, and he had set his alarm for nine.. But he had a missed call from Kihyun who had given the younger his number at the previous meeting. Changkyun made a mental note to get everyone else’s number before he unlocked his phone to call Kihyun back.

“Wake up!” Kihyun said once he answered after only the first ring. It wasn’t that it really annoyed Changkyun that the older was being so demanding right away; it was more of the fact that he had only just woken up and was very much upset that he could’ve had more time with Jooheon.

“I wouldn’t be calling you if I wasn’t awake now, Hyung.”

“Oh come on, why do you sound so upset?” Changkyun could hear an annoying lilt to the other’s voice. It’s too early to be teased, younger or not.

“Hyuung, It’s five in the morning. What could you possibly need this early?” He had rolled onto back now, kicking his blanket down off of him. With a quick glance to his left, he saw that Ale still wasn’t back.

“You couldn’t have already forgotten about your training could you?” Kihyun said, his voice more lively than Changkyun’s entire being currently. 

The younger groaned into the phone. “At five A.M.?”

“No, of course not. I just wanted to make sure you were already up. Minhyuk and I will meet you at the training arena at seven. Since Jooheon is joining us, I’m sure he could show you the way. Don’t go back to sleep!” 

Changkyun really wanted to. He wanted to go back to sleep and be there with his lovely dimpled dream boy, but he knew that would have to wait.

“Yeah, yeah.” The sleepy boy mumbled.

He was already taking the phone away from his ear, but still heard Kihyun’s protests of, “Hey! Don’t ‘ _ yeah yeah _ ’ m-” before Changkyun pressed the end button.

“He sure is naggy sometimes. Seriously like a parent,” he grumbled to himself as he flipped through his phone to see the unread message. When he saw that it was from Jooheon, he couldn’t help the smile and redness that came across his face with the memories of last night rushing back to him. 

 

**Dream boy 5:05 A.M.**

**Kihyun called I’m guessing? :( Come back to sleep~~**

 

**Dream boy 5:07 A.M.**

**Shit he’s calling me nowwww:(**

 

Changkyun quickly responded, every inch of his body practically shivering with excitement at the thought of being close to Jooheon again.

 

**Changkyun 5:08 A.M.**

**Haha. Hurry up and get ready, then you can come down here. We don’t have to be there until seven so we have time to relax. Plus, I want you to be here when I call my parents.**

 

Setting his phone down, he could practically feel the panic from Jooheon. He assumed the older was trying to rush to get ready. Seeing that he still needed to wash his face and brush his teeth, he left the door unlocked for Jooheon who would undoubtedly be ready first by the feelings he kept getting. It was cute. 

After grabbing clothes and running into the bathroom, he heard a knock on the door. “It’s open!” After hearing who he assumed was Jooheon open the door he continued, “I’ll be out in a second, make yourself comfortable.”

“Take your time!” Jooheon called out back to the younger after shutting the door. 

After brushing his teeth, cleaning his face and getting dressed the younger took a look in the mirror to style his hair. He was wearing black gym shorts, and a plain white t-shirt. He wasn’t sure what the training would consist of, but he figured he should be prepared to exercise. 

With the finishing touches of his gray tennis shoes, Changkyun walked out of the bathroom adjusting his shirt while saying, “Do you think this will be okay for today? I don’t really know what Kihyun had in mind--oh!!”

Stopping mid sentence and almost falling backwards, he realized it wasn’t Jooheon that had come in. It was Alexander. He could’ve sworn he heard Jooheon’s voice though…

Seconds later Changkyun heard fast footsteps and hard knocks at the door. 

“It’s open,” Ale said, sneering. “Didn’t mean to startle you,” he laughed out, “Sure was funny though.”

Jooheon came in, breathing heavier than ever. “Is everything alright??” He looked like he would kill Ale, and he didn’t even know what happened.

“I uh… yeah I’m fine. I just thought Ale was you and when I came out of the bathroom I was just startled. It’s fine. Like Ale said.. It was funny…” Changkyun couldn’t help but to sound so put off by the whole thing. He wasn’t getting his alone time with dream boy, and he was just scared first thing in the morning.

With one last worried glance Jooheon nods. “Well, let’s get going. We need to eat.” He had begun to grab the younger’s hand before another’s arm rested on his shoulder. 

“Are you leaving again today, Changkyun?” Ale said, his voice low and eyes peircing. Changkyun couldn’t help the chill that ran down his body. Intimidating. He was intimidating. Changkyun could literally summon fire or some shit from his hands, but this guy scared him.

“Yes.” Jooheon answered for him, pulling the younger to his side and causing Alexander’s hand to fall. “We have club plans. They’re mandatory.”

“Ahh..” Ale drawled out, shifting his weight to mostly one leg and crossing his arms. His dark hair not spiked today covered his forehead, lingering above his green eyes that seemed to glow. “You’re the one who was close to Gunhee last semester huh?”

Jooheon physically flinched and Changkyun felt the pain in his chest. After grabbing his hand the younger spoke, “Yes, they were close. Not to be rude or anything, but with that being a touchy subject I would hope that you would respect him enough to not bring it up Ale.” 

Ale’s eyes lowered, he seemed to be glaring at Jooheon with all he had before nodding and throwing a smile on his face. His whole demeanor changed, stance slacked, eyes lighter, and his arms unfolded. “Of course! I’m sorry, bro! I just get curious sometimes.”

Jooheon simply nodded, seeming just as bewildered as the younger did.

“Well… on that note, I’m heading out. I may be back late tonight. I hope everything is well with your family. See you.” Changkyun turned and grabbed his phone and wallet before going to the door still holding dream boy’s hand.

“Thanks, they’re fine. See you later. Let me know if you need anything!”

Changkyun and Jooheon left without responding. Frankly, Changkyun didn’t care. He just wanted to get out of there. 

“Shit..” he said after they were a few doors down. “Wait here, I forgot my keys.” 

Running back, he found that the door was still unlocked and he quietly went inside, finding his keys on his desk. That was when he heard Ale’s voice coming from the bathroom.

“Yes sir. He’s definitely seeming comfortable with them already. His initiation took even longer than Gun’s and the mind reader came to get him today for another clan situation I guess….”

_ What the hell? _

“Yes. I’ll do my best. I’ll see what I can find in his things today. Goodbye Darius.”

Changkyun froze. Darius… That was his uncle’s name. After a second Changkyun came to his senses and quickly left the room unnoticed, but almost running into Jooheon.

“What the heck just happened?” he asked, worried and anger clear in his face and mind.

“Can we talk about it in a second?” The younger barely managed to breath out.

Nodding Jooheon put an arm around his waist and began leading him. After a while they showed up at small enclosed, glass pavilion in the back of campus that was surrounded by tall bushes. 

“There are security spells over this place that work as soon as someone with powers enters. No one else will even see that we are in here. Nor can they open the door as long as we stay in. Once we open the door back up, the spell cancels out.” The older explained, his brown hair began falling into his face as they sat at a white stone table in the middle of the pavilion. It was beautiful in there. An “m” and an “x” were carved into the middle of the table. 

“I can’t read his mind.” Jooheon said. His eyes were focused on the symbol in the middle of the table. “I could, but I can tell that it was all fake, projected thoughts. He was purposefully throwing me off. I think he may know..”

“Oh, he does..” Changkyun whispered, watching Jooheon’s hands as he fidgeted with a small pebble on the table. His movements stopped momentarily before he nodded and continued fidgeting.

“I heard him on the phone when I went to grab my keys. He knows you read minds. He’s watching me and possibly going through my stuff as we speak. And the guy he was talking to… his name was Darius.” Changkyun blurted it all out. He wanted to say it all now, he needed to. He didn’t want to keep freaking out. He was scared. So far all of the things he had learned about this world were fascinating. There was nothing scary that had any substance yet. Sure there were plenty of bad possibilities so far, but nothing had been proven. Until now. His roommate was definitely off. He was more than likely involved with his family. And Changkyun wasn’t so sure that was a good thing anymore.

“What’s with the name Darius?” The older spoke so calmingly, grabbing Changkyun’s hand and lightly kissing it making him breathe out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

“Darius is my so-called uncle’s name…”

Neither said anything for a few minutes. The information soaking in. 

“We need to tell Kihyun. About this and the table…”

Looking down, the younger realized he had burned the table as he saw the palm shaped singe marks. His head shot up as he looked towards Jooheon’s hands to check for any harm.

Shaking his head he squeezed Changkyun’s hand and said, “You stopped when I grabbed you. Don’t worry.”

Sighing and pulling his hands back to lay his head in them, he couldn’t even manage a tear. He felt so scared. He was terrified.

“I need to call them.” He said. Adrenaline filled his veins. Everything was turning to anger. He wasn’t sure why this was all happening to him, but at this point he blamed his parents. Even if they were his real parents, they still hid so much from him.

Jooheon nodded and moved next to Changkyun, hooking an arm around his side.

After dialing the number, the phone began to ring. Mom was first.

**_The number you have dialed in no longer in service. Hang up and please try again._ **

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

His dad’s number now. There was ringing, more than with his mom’s number. And then someone answered. 

“Changkyun.” His dad sounded far less than excited to hear from him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He was shaking at this point, but was determined to control his emotions for Jooheon’s sake.

“What do you mean, boy?”

“Are you really my father?”

He heard a sigh come from his father. He knows that sigh. Changkyun always heard this sigh whenever his father had to break some kind of bad news to him. Like when he didn’t make the baseball time when he was 16. Or when he wasn’t allowed to go on the senior trip to Canada. 

“Son, listen--”

“Don’t call me that! Why didn’t you tell me? What all have you lied about!”

He heard the man laughing. Of all things, he was laughing.

“I never wanted to. I didn’t ask for all of this. It was just part of the plan.”

“What plan?”

The man Changkyun once knew to be his father hung up.

“What plan, yoU JERK? WHY?” He was screaming at the phone. Tears were coming down his cheeks like a flood. He felt an overwhelming warmth in his chest that he could only assume was coming from Jooheon. Everything about his parents was starting to make sense. The reasons they were so intent on knowing every friend he had, or knowing everything about any place he wanted to go. Even how intent they were about him never going too far from them. He wasn’t even allowed to go on small school trips to places like the zoo or a museum. It wasn’t that they were scared from the wreck. 

_ It was just part of the plan. _

The phone fell from his hand safely onto his lap as he sobbed. “Why? Why did this happen to me, Jooheonie…?” The younger’s voice was barely louder than a whisper now, and his brown eyes were red and puffy as he looked up into his dream boy’s calm ones.  

Jooheon smiled bitterly as he pushed hair off of Chankyun’s forehead and whipped his tears. “Sometimes life can be very cruel. We’ll figure it out. I’ll be there for you every step of the way, love.”

His hand stopped and cupped the younger’s cheek. 

Leaning into Jooheon’s hand, he responded with a soft “Thank you..” before his phone began ringing again and Kihyun’s name popped up.

Jooheon answered with a sigh. “Give us 10 minutes, Kihyun. There was an emergency. Will you get some sandwiches or something please?” Changkyun could hear this small protests given in return that were ultimately quieted. “Thank you,” he said before ending the call and standing up. 

“We need to get going.”

Changkyun just nodded and held the older’s hand as they made their way to the training arena. He hoped things would start to calm down. He needed them to. For some reason though, he could tell this was only the beginning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't cry Changkyunnnnn ;-; I hope you liked the chapter! I wanted to add more, but I didn't want to overload it. Please let me know what you think in the comments! Stay tuned for badass Changkyun training sometime in the next week~~(Why am I such a dork oh goodness)


	7. A Sliver of Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun finally gets to practice and they find out there's more to his powers than what meets the eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to every for being so patient with these updates! I just finished my final exams and should be able to post quicker for the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 7**

“We need to get going.”

Changkyun just nodded and held the older’s hand as they made their way to the training arena. He hoped things would start to calm down. He needed them to. For some reason though, he could tell this was only the beginning.

  


The training arena was on the opposite side of campus from the dorms, behind the class buildings. To the normal eye it seemed like an abandoned gym, but to those who were pacted into the clan, the truth was revealed, as Jooheon had explained. Changkyun didn’t speak the entire walk. The small wind made him shiver from time to time being that he was in shorts, so Jooheon was sure to walk closely to him as he switched to having his arm around the younger’s shoulder.

“You should’ve brought a jacket,” he said.

Changkyun was too emotionally drained to even protest the fact that he figured it would be warmer and that they were going to be exercising from what he figured. It was only now that he took in what Jooheon was wearing.

His dream boy was wearing black gym shorts and a black pullover hoodie with white stripes running down the sleeves. His hair was pushed back with a headband that he pulled out of his pocket when they left the pavilion. His brown eyes sparkled even though the weather felt so dull and gray.

Changkyun was sure that without the other man he’d surely be losing his own mind right now.

It still felt like the world was crashing around himself though. However, Changkyun knew that the overwhelming numbness that he always tended to feel when things went wrong would come soon. He was going to feel emotionless soon. It’s how he copes.

But he didn’t want to subject Jooheon to that. The older man has been there for him so far, and he didn’t want to ruin anything that had just begun.

On top of that, Changkyun didn’t want to be the same innocent little kid that he was before. Things were changing.

He has lost his parents to some degree. It wasn’t even guaranteed that they were his parents. He was hoping that they weren’t at this point. No parent would be that cruel.

He had no idea that he was missing anything in life.

Now, he has powers. He has six guys who say they will be there for him.

He has Jooheon.

With that, he leaned into Jooheon’s side more causing him to look over, a small sign of worry in his eyes.

“Changkyunnie…”

The younger nodded, “I’m okay.. Just exhausted. It’s been a long weekend.”

Jooheon nodded. Changkyun was sure he understood, considering he had been there for almost everything this weekend.

 

They finally arrived at the gym. The inside was far different than what Changkyun expected.

The the inside was a stark contrast from the rundown look of the outside that had a silvery glow to those in the clan. The inside was bigger than what the outside portrayed as well. Along each of the walls were the usual red curtains with the gold clan symbols. They were still very beautiful to Changyun.

The gym had multiple levels.

The first floor was the combat training field. The floor was a continuous red padded area. There were weapons on the far opposite wall from the door. Changkyun could just make out the assortments of bow and arrows, swords, nunchucks, and staffs. There were more, but Changkyun didn’t have time to explore seeing as Kihyun and Minhyuk were both waking up adorned in plain t-shirts and baggy gym shorts.

Kihyun was carrying a plate with two ham and cheese sandwiches in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

The second they walked up, Changkyun felt calmer presumably due to Minhyuk.

“Is everything alright?” Minhyuk asked as jooheon made the younger accept the food and sit on the floor.

Changkyun looked to Jooheon, hoping he would understand that he didn’t feel like explaining. Jooheon nodded and looked towards Kihyun.

“There’s a few things. Firstly, what do you know about Changkyun’s roommate? The one who was originally roomed with Gun.”

Kihyun didn’t say much at first. He was sitting directly across from Jooheon. Minhyuk, across from Changkyun, moved to put a hand on the youngest’s shoulder as he ate quietly.

Finally Kihyun responded, “Dean Whitacre never told me much about him. I remember Gunhee talking about how uncomfortable he made him feel. Why do you ask?”

Changkyun spoke this time, careful of his words, “He’s...watching me.. I’m sure he has something to do with my parents...or whoever they are.”

Kihyun simply raised an eyebrow and nodded to signal the younger to continue.

Looking down at his sandwich Changkyun went on to explain the oddness of how Ale moved in, the text messages from the previous night, and the conversation they held today. “This part is what really solidified him knowing something else about me though. I forgot my keys after rushing out and when I went back, Alexander was on the phone. He knew that Jooheon was a mind reader, he knows about the clan, and he’s apparently searching through my things… The thing that confuses me is that he was on the phone with a man he called Darius, which is the name of my uncle.”

Changkyun let this all sink in for a minute, taking a bite of his food. Kihyun hadn’t said a word yet. He simply watched the ground, seemingly searching his mind. Minhyuk hadn’t lowered his hand, and the younger didn’t have the heart to tell him it was unnecessary at this point. Changkyun had freaked out enough already and was calmer now.

Jooheon started to clear his throat when Kihyun suddenly sat up straight and spoke, “I’ve been informed of every person on this campus with powers or knowledge thereof, but Alexander is not one of them. I will speak with the Dean about having you moved. It’s too unnerving to allow you to stay in that room. You could come stay in the apartment or in Jooheon’s room until then. Are you sure the Darius guy is the same guy as your uncle?”

Changkyun nodded solemnly. “I called my...parents.. Today. My mother’s phone was disconnected. My dad answered. He said I was only a part of some plan. He laughed.. I’m sure they aren’t my real parents at this point. I have no idea what this plan is, but now that I think about it… the situation in uncanny.”

 

It was a flashback.

Changkyun was sitting behind his laptop screen peering at the housing assignment on his school website. His mother was behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

“Alexander Wilton.” He said, unmoving. College was fast approaching. He only had one month until move-in day and he only just received his room assignment.

“Ahh! Thank goodness!” his mother exclaimed before quickly shoving her hand over her mouth.

“Do you know him mom?” the child asked, turning around in his seat at the kitchen table.

“Oh, no sweetie.. I just… I was just happy that you finally got an assignment. I was worried with how late it was.” She was shifting around oddly, but Changkyun assumed she was just nervous about him leaving for college.

“I’ll be fine mom, I promise. You won’t need to worry.”

“It’s not you that I worry about, Kyun. It’s those who may cling to you. Those who you may be forced with.”

Changkyun just laughed. “Mom, no one can force me to be friends with anyone.”

She sighed visibly. “I really do talk too much. Why do I even try with you? You’re just our pawn anyways. I’m not being paid enough for this.”

“Mom what are you--?”

“Forget this conversation.” There was a bright light.

 

Changkyun was back in the training center with the others. Everyone was visibly shaken. “Guys, I just saw--”

“We were there,” Minhyuk spoke softly, barely noticable.

Tears were streaming down Changkyun’s cheeks.

“Changkyun. There’s definitely more to you than any of us know.” Kihyun whispered.

Jooheon spoke next, Changkyun swore he could see the older trembling slightly and could feel the anger inside, “Your so-called mother…. And it’s already odd enough that he can manipulate two elements… Is it possible to be a multi-elementalist and a mentality manipulator?”

Kihyun took no time to respond, seemingly already searching for the answer himself, “I’ve never heard of it happening. It’s already rare to be able manipulate two elements.”

No one spoke for a long while. Anxiety was building inside of Changkyun. It was like a bubbling pit of lava inside of his stomach. He knew it was coming up soon as well. The next thing he knew, Minhyuk was hugging him and the anxiety subsided slightly.

“Thank you…” he whispered.

Kihyun sighed and stood up. “I know this is a lot for you, but we have to get some work done today with classes starting tomorrow. I promise to do as much research as possible tonight. Let me call Shownu and Wonho to have them move your stuff into Jooheon’s room. I’ll call the Dean really quick as well. Jooheon, start him on stretching for now.”

With that, Kihyun walked away to a door on the far left that Changkyun assumed led to a storage room.

It took a second for everyone else to move. It was Jooheon that finally said something. “Come on, let’s give you some sort of normalcy Changkyunnie..”

They began do simple stretches. Minhyuk going along and stretching as well. All Changkyun could think about was the fact that his whole life is based upon fallacies currently. He wasn’t mad exactly. He wasn’t numb either. It was some odd mix of irritation and sadness. He was annoyed. He was disappointed. He was confused.

The worried glances from Minhyuk didn’t help either. It’s like he expected the younger to just explode into flames. It was understandable though. Any normal person would have cracked by now, and honestly Changkyun wasn’t sure how he himself hadn’t cracked. Maybe it was due to the amount of crazy information he had received in the past few days, but either way nothing could really surprise him any more.

After a while Kihyun came out of the assumed storage room and began the training session.

It was nothing too extreme. Honestly, it wasn’t what the new member expected at all.

Changkyun was made to have casual conversations with Minhyuk and Kihyun in an alternating fashion. During some conversations, Minhyuk would give the younger random bursts of emotions. Sometimes it was anger or irritation. Others it was sadness and fear. Sometimes Jooheon would be forced to cause Changkyun to misinterpret something that was said, causing him to either be angry or disappointed in whoever he was speaking with.

Changkyun’s goal was to control his powers under those circumstances. He had to be able to face these emotions while being around others who knew nothing of his abilities.

In the beginning Minhyuk had to step in often to calm him down. A few of the mats now had burn holes in them. During one particular conversation with Kihyun about cute animals, Minhyuk had given Changkyun a huge burst of fear and he accidentally froze the part of the mat under Kihyun causing him to slip and fall. Jooheon and Minhyuk laughed for five minutes straight while Changkyun continuously apologized.

Eventually He got the hang of everything though. It was maybe two hours later when he finally began to control everything. Not so much as a singe or water droplet came from his hand when Jooheon made him think that Minhyuk was telling him that Jooheon was sleeping with him. Changkyun made a mental note to smack Jooheon later though.

“Alright,” Kihyun said, “That’s enough for today. You catch on fast, new blood.” The newbie was drenched in sweat at this point. He was worn out from the amount of emotional changes and the physical restraint it took to keep his powers at bay.

“Later this week we will have an extra training session to try and figure out the extent of your powers. Besides that you also will meet with one member each day for special training. For this week I will need you to attend as well, Minhyuk. He has it under control for right now, but who knows what will happen when he is strained too far. You’re fine for classes though, in my opinion.” Everyone nodded. They exchanged their goodbyes before parting their separate ways outside. Kihyun and Minhyuk went in one direction, the latter groping Kihyun’s ass playfully before getting slapped in the arm. Changkyun and Jooheon went in the other direction to head to their newly approved room together. It was on a separate floor than before. Kihyun was too worried to have them on the same floor as Alexander and they were moved two floors up, placing them on the fifth floor now.

The silently made their way to the room, holding hands. When they finally made it, Jooheon smiled, showing his dimples and said, “Welcome Home~~”

“You’re so cheesy,” Changkyun breathed out while laughing. It was nice as they unpacked. Shownu and Wonho thankful left everything pretty neatly in the room so it was easy to unpack quickly.

The boys pushed their beds together and put the dressers on the opposite wall with the desks by the windows.

After showering they laid down together, intertwining their legs. Changyun snuggled his head into Jooheon’s bare chest as the latter wrap his arms around him. He felt safe, and could definitely feel how content Jooheon felt.

Changkyun resorted to waiting on worrying about everything until tomorrow. Right now he just wanted to relax in the arms of someone he could actually trust in the current cloud of fallacies and deception.

“Goodnight, Dream boy.”

“I’ll see you there~” He winked, before kissing the younger’s forehead.

Yeah, this was okay for now. Changkyun could get use to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OooOooo~~ Things are getting a little hectic. You should leave comments on what you think the extent of Changkyun's powers are! I hope you liked this chapter! Thank you for reading~~~


	8. The Lost Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun and the others come to a realization that could change everything.

**Chapter 8**

 

Changkyun hadn’t seen his dream boy all day and he was beyond ready to get back to their dorm room and nap together.

Nothing eventful happened in their dream together the previous night. But it was that simplicity that was so attractive to Changkyun. They were able to cuddle and talk about anything in the world, all while being in the same beautiful field as before. Jooheon would talk about his training as a child, how his parents were adamant about teaching him every way to use his power, and by the age of 10 he had excelled the proficiency of mind abilities more so than those with the power in college. He spoke of how he supposed this got him into the clan. The younger also learned a lot about his dream boy last night. Jooheon loves things that are cute and foods that are sweet. He hates someone who is rude. He can’t stand someone without respect. He loves to cuddle. A LOT. Of course Changkyun doesn’t mind though. He’s almost as clingy as the older boy is.

The day was over class-wise and Changkyun had managed to keep his powers under control today, but it was nonetheless still tiring. His teachers seemed nice enough. His music production professor even asked to see some of the younger’s work after hearing one piece. It felt wonderful to praised.

But something was still bothering Changkyun. Something odd happened during their practice last night and he is only recently coming to terms with it. When Jooheon had blasted him with one particular thought of “I’ll never be good enough,” it struck a chord. This cord seemed to spark something within him, because next thing he knew he was hearing Minhyuk’s voice saying, “This Kid can’t take much more… I know why Kihyun is being this intense but…” The problem was that Minhyuk hadn’t spoken aloud. 

He figured telling Kihyun was necessary, but he was scared. So many things about Changkyun already baffled them. He didn’t want to keep being a bother to people.

Changkyun felt his arms begin to tingle as the fear settled in more and he knew it was time to calm down. He was close to the dorm, but didn’t need to have an outburst now of all times. Too many people were around. He slowly breathed in and out, feeling his body relax slight. His arms were across his chest, holding each other as he walked. 

His phone rang in his pocket as he got a text. Changkyun took the phone out and saw a message from Jooheon.

 

**Dream boy 3:15p.m.:** **  
** **Are you okay??**

 

The younger boy smiled at the screen. He had almost forgotten about their bond. Before he could even respond, Jooheon was already calling.

“I’m fine,” Changkyun answer, a tone of fondness present in his deep voice. He heard his dream boy sigh into the phone.

“I was worried,” he said, “I felt something odd.”

Changkyun smiled to himself again. It was nice to have someone who cares so much for him.

“I’m fine, hyung. There’s just something I need to talk with you and Kihyun about. It’s--,” he came to a halt. Ale was standing straight in front of the younger. Eyes a piercing contrast to the smile plastered on his face. 

“Changkyun?” Jooheon questioned, nervousness clear in his voice and in that pit the younger always felt it in. 

“Hi, Changkyun~ I saw that you moved out. I hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression,” Ale said. Changkyun heard Jooheon’s breathing quicken as if he was running, and overwhelming feeling of panic was sent to the younger as well. 

“Ale.” Changkyun couldn’t tell if the other was being condescending, but he didn’t have time for this. His powers were too unstable. He felt a panic attack coming up and sure didn’t want to know what that would do to his powers.

“I’m surprised to see you now,” he continued while giving what he thought was his best fake laugh as he let his arm holding the phone fall limp. “I was just heading to the dorms. The group just thought it’d be best for me to room with them. You didn’t do anything wrong of course! It’s just to help me get closer with them!” Changkyun surprised himself with how easily and quickly he lied, but he guessed he was just really desperate. Not to mention, he learned how to write a three page paper in one night during high school. Bullshitting things was practically his best trait.

Ale nodded in response. Changkyun wasn’t sure if the other really bought it or not, but he didn’t have much time to question it as Jooheon was now running up behind Ale.

“Changkyunnie! Hey! You’re almost late for the meeting!” Dream boy came beside Ale, smiling big. “We have to hurry.”

“Ahh! Sorry, Ale. I gotta go!,” Changkyun said as he grabbed Jooheon’s hand. 

“It’s okay. I’ll see you around Kyun,” Ale retorted with a smirk, drawing out the name. No one ever called the younger that and he sure didn’t understand why Ale was giving him a pet name, but with that Jooheon and Changkyun quickly walked away. Jooheon had a weird look on his face and confusing was rushing to that pit in the younger’s stomach.

Neither spoke until they reached their room, knowing they needed the protective wards.

The two sat quietly on the bed, both at a loss for where to start.

Changkyun was supposed to meet with Hyungwon and Minhyuk in two hours for practice. 

The younger didn’t dare hold his boyfriend’s hand. He was shaking too much and knew his powers could explode any second. What he didn’t realize was how right he was, because seconds later he was grasping his head roughly as he curled over into his lap. Straggled screams were coming from the troubled boy. Lots of voices were flooding Changkyun’s mind. They were mixing to where they became a loud, buzzing incoherent mess of sounds. They were louder than anything Changkyun remember experiencing. It was extremely painful.

Vaguely he could feel Jooheon grabbing his shoulders, shooting questions to ask if he was okay and what was going on, but it was all in vain. The brown haired boy could barely hear his boyfriend and any noise the other made just made everything hurt more.

Two minutes later it was finally over and Changkyun was left curled into a ball shaking and drenched in sweat. Jooheon simply rubbed his back as his nervousness poured into the younger unintentionally. 

When he was finally able to move, Changkyun sat up slowly and grabbed his dream boy’s hand knowing his body was too weak to produce any type of power. “This is w-what I… What I needed to talk about..,” His breaths were still labered as he spoke, but he sowly felt the strength coming back. 

“What was that…?” Jooheon asked softly, his thumb subconsciously rubbing the younger’s hand soothingly. 

Changkyun couldn’t even look the other in the face. He stared at his own lap as he spoke. “I don’t know exactly. It happened during the training too, just not as bad. People’s voices… Their thoughts… I think… They flood into me… During training it was quick and only from Minhyuk. It happened when you pushed a kind of really bad thought into my mind. This time… It was everyone. So many voices… It just hurt…” Changkyun didn’t know how or if he should continue. 

Thankfully Jooheon was the next to speak up. His voice sounded low and soft, soothing but slightly unsure of itself. “I may know what’s going on. If I’m right… things may get a little complicated.”

The younger just nodded. He didn’t have the energy to ask. He laid back down, trying to ease the nerves causing his breathing to be so bad.

“I’m going to call Kihyun. We need to have a clan meeting. I’ll see if they will come here though.” He kissed the younger on his temple and Changkyun passed out as he heard Jooheon on the phone. 

It was maybe two hours later when Changkyun was being woken up by Minhyuk, a calming feeling rushing through him.

“You were screaming…,” he said softly, concern laced in his expression. The others were all there too, scattered across the room. Jooheon was absent however, and Changkyun couldn’t help but worry that he may have hurt his boyfriend somehow. Maybe his powers went haywire again-- 

“Jooheon is out grabbing food.” Hyungwon seemed to have noticed Changkyun frantically scanning the room. Hyungwon leaned against the wall by the door, Shownu seated at the desk beside him. Wonho was on the floor in front of the bed, and Kihyun stood at the foot of the bed by the bathroom door.

Changkyun nodded. “Nightmares,” he said, “That’s why I was screaming.”

He sat up, allowing Minhyuk to sit next to him on the bed and hold his hand. This position becoming familiar and almost expected.

“How long has Jooheon been gone?” Changkyun asked, voice scratchy from the screaming he supposed. 

“He left about half an hour ago, he should be back soon,” Shownu said from the desk. He was fiddling with one of the pens on it.

“Ahh okay..”

It was only a few seconds later when Jooheon walked in carrying two bags filled with tacos. “I’m back,” the mind reader said. 

After passing out food to everyone, leaving Changkyun staring at the taco in his lap, dream boy sat on the opposite side of the younger from Minhyuk. Changkyun’s appetite was currently inexistent.

“You have to eat,” Wonho said, looking up from the floor. His eyes seemed glazed over with tears, and Changkyun thought the older male looked genuinely worried about him. Everyone nodded and mumbled their agreements. He’s only been here a few days, but this clan...it’s given them all a bond that is almost incredible. 

“I’m not hungry.” At first he felt stubborn, but the second Jooheon grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly he began to eat.  _ I need to eat,  _ kept running through his head.

He didn’t want to bother anyone anymore, but it feels like he’s nothing but a big sack of problems and baggage for them.

They waited on him to finish. It was a painful silence. He just wanted to know what was wrong with him. What was going on…

As he finished, Kihyun spoke leaning against the bathroom door, “Jooheon told us what happened.” 

All the younger could do was nod as looked at his lap.

“He also told us something else. Ale. He called you something none of us has heard since we were young teens. A name that is treasured and mourned at the same time. The name of the lost prince. Kyun. I don’t see how I never pieced it together. Kyun was taken the same time you said you were ‘in a wreck.’”

Changkyun’s mind was whirling. He felt Minhyuk’s grip tighten. It was a good thing too, because Jooheon was holding his other hand and he didn’t want to hurt the other. Then he heard Jooheon sigh and became a little concerned.

“Stop it, Changkyun. Calm down,” Minhyuk said.

Changkyun quickly dropped Jooheon’s hand, thinking he may have burned it or something. However, he was confused to see Jooheon in a smiling daze. He looked back to Minhyuk, putting a questioning look on his face. The other just nodded towards Kihyun. 

Kihyun sighed, but didn’t seem upset. Honestly, Changkyun thought he looked almost in awe before his expression changed back to being serious. He folded his arms over his chest and began speaking again, “The Im family, also known as Lim in some regions, holds power over all those with magic-like abilities due to the special ones that they hold specifically. No other family holds this ability.” He stopped, seemingly allowing the information to seep in. Changkyun noticed Minhyuk loosening his grip, and everyone else seemed to be lost in what Kihyun was saying. The bed shifted slightly as Changkyun assumed Jooheon was starting to come to. “You, Changkyun, have been exhibiting this ability and I hate that I haven’t noticed.”

“What is this...special ability?” he asked, voice too small and unsure of itself.

“The Lim’s can use any ability that exists. Usually at their own will. But that takes time and training. They are practically invincible. You are slightly different though. I suppose it’s due to your memory being wiped and power blocked. It must have messed with whatever training you were given, but now you seem to need to be near or touching the person with the ability you want to use. Your natural abilities definitely seem to be elemental manipulation based, specifically fire and water, but there’s no guarantee you can’t manipulate the others right now. Some elementalists of the Lim family tend to be able to manipulate all of the elements immediately, but even that is rare. Others outside of your family only get an affinity for one element, vary rarely two. But that’s it… The only ability the Lim family does not have is that of supreme control of another person’s body and mind simultaneously. No magic user can do this. However, two users can work together, but it takes a lot of concentration and it banned by the council.” Kihyun stopped speaking with this. The story seemingly over.

Changkyun knew he should speak next, he even had a lot of questions, but there was something keeping his voice in his throat. This was all too much to take in at once. How was he supposed to be a prince? He could barely even control his power for a few hours under no pressure. How was he taken? What the hell was going on?

His thoughts were going crazy, Minhyuk’s grip tightened, and he heard a voice in his head.  _ I should sleep, _ it said. 

Jooheon…

Next thing Changkyun knew, he was feeling extremely tired.

Minhyuk…

His eyes were fluttering shut and he felt arms wrap around his and pull him onto a pillow as he slowly drifted off into sleep.

 

KIHYUN’S POV

The youngest member had just fallen asleep and everyone was now looking at Kihyun. This was such a tricky situation.

There’s no way Dean Whitacre didn’t know. Her ability was that of being able to sense the abilities within others. Was she working with the people who took Changkyun? If so, who do we talk to...How do we even find out?

“What do we do?” Minhyuk asked from the bed, his arm lying on Changkyun to keep him asleep for now. 

Hyungwon spoke up from the other end of the room, obviously tired as he leaned on the wall, “Do we talk to Whitacre? I’m not exactly sure she didn’t have something to do with this…” He began kicking his foot absentmindedly, eyes now trained on the ground.

Shownu and Wonho both nodded in agreement. 

Kihyun dragged his hand down his cheek and sighed. Too much info was flowing through his mind right now. Sometimes his power went wild and was too hard to control. He rubbed his temples as he began, “We tell her nothing. Tell no one else for now. I have an uncle who I will call to meet us up here. He was in the special forces group that fought against those who went against the Lim’s and conducted those cruel tests. He was often near the prince before he was taken. We can trust him.”

“What do we do about Alexander?” Shownu spoke. “Isn’t it even a little suspicious that he was roomed with Changkyun?”

“But didn’t Whitacre let us change the rooms? Why would she do that if she as a part of everything? I know she’s creepy, but we need to be sure…,” Wonho said. Kihyun couldn’t help the smile he almost gave. Wonho has never liked having to consider someone as bad. He liked to think everyone had some good. It’s one of the things that drew Kihyun in to him. This wasn’t the time for that though. We have the lost prince on our hands.

“She was probably just trying to keep us from suspecting her,” Jooheon says, startling Kihyun. He had assumed that Jooheon had fallen asleep as he was cuddled into the prince.

“That makes some sense…,” Wonho said quietly, still sounding a little unsure.

Kihyun nodded, satisfied, “For now, let’s rest. There’s no telling what he may experience next. His memories are starting to unravel. That’s probably why his powers are so unstable and he keeps having nightmares. Jooheon-” Kihyun fished the necklace he brought out of his pocket and continued, “Be sure he wears this during classes and around other students. Don’t let him wear it in here or during practice. It suppresses his powers, but I’m worried it will keep his memories from coming back quickly as well. We need to let them unravel.”

Jooheon simply nodded while kihyun placed the necklace on Changkyun’s desk.

“Things are going to get complicated for a while,” Kihyun said, a tone of worry in his voice, “We may have to do things we aren’t comfortable with. Remember that while Whitacre put the members of the clan together,  _ we _ are the clan. We are one. We protect each other. Changkyun may be a prince, but he’s also one of us.”

Everyone nodded as the air around them shifted and ruffle their hair. The bond between them was strong. They all knew that they would do anything to protect each other. That was the bond of the X-clan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's been like 5 years since I posted... Sorry!! I tried to make this chapter longer because of how long you all had to wait! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and let me know what you think! Also, at the beginning of the next chapter I will explain each members powers in more detail, so please look forward to it~~


	9. Complications and More Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun goes through some big changes. Things begin to get more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised here is an explanation of powers. Ones that I don't explain here are explained in this chapter.  
> Minhyuk: Emotional Manipulation  
> Kihyun: Knowledge Expansion  
> Hyungwon: Mind Manipulation  
> Jooheon: Mind Reading(Includes joining a mind, aka dream jumping)  
> Changkyun: The cluster-fuck. Fire and water manipulation. But can wield all powers.
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long! There may be some grammar and spelling mistakes as I tried to type this quickly. I made this one much longer than planned. I hope you enjoy~~~

**Chapter 9**

 

Changkyun wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke up, but he knew he didn’t want to move. His body felt like it had been hit by 1,000 bricks. His head was throbbing and he wanted to get water, but when he tried to move his leg he was met with the entanglement of another’s legs.

Jooheon was flush against the younger man, arms around his waist as well as their legs being entangled. He was snoring softly and the younger couldn’t help but smile at how adorable his boyfriend looked.

Everything is crazy right now, but moments like this are what gives Changkyun hope. He doesn’t want this moment to change. 

Slowly he moves in to kiss his dream boy’s forehead softly. The two hadn’t even kissed yet, but he couldn’t help himself. 

After the kiss, Jooheon’s eyes slowly fluttered open. The younger’s face flushed dark red as he was caught so close, but before he could pull away Jooheon squeezed him closer and kissed his cheek before nuzzling into his neck.

“Good morning, Prince~,” he said teasingly and very cutely if Changkyun had to say so himself. The use of the name Prince did throw him off, however. It still hasn’t sunk in yet.

“I’m never going to get used to that,” Changkyun chuckled softly, moving a hand to play with the other’s hair.

Jooheon hummed against his neck, causing the younger to shiver slightly. He could feel the smirk growing against his neck. “It’ll take time. It’s hard to believe my ~soulmate~ is an actual prince.” He snuggled closer to the younger as he said this. Just when he thought his boyfriend couldn’t get any softer.

“Yeah,” the caramel haired boy sighed, “Me either, honestly.” Jooheon was right though, it would take time. 

First thing’s first though, he needed his memories back. He came to the conclusion that if he got his memories back, maybe he’d be able to control his powers more.

Another question loomed over his mind though, one that plagued his dream. He had no nightmares the previous night, no dream boy, no actual dream, just a question. It was hope filled with a desire to love something he thought was lost.

“Jooheon…?” he asked quietly.

The other hummed a, “yes?” against his neck causing yet another shiver.

“Are… are my parents still…?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question, too scared of the outcome.

Jooheon pulled back to looking into the younger’s eyes, a small knowing smile on his face, “Yes. Both are alive. The queen has been slightly weak since you were taken, but it is to be expected when someone loses their son.”

Changkyun’s heart soared momentarily. His parents were there, and they were real.

“They were very loving towards you, love. More so than most of the other royal parents. That’s what my parents told me, at least.” Jooheon resumed his place against the other’s neck. 

Changkyun was smiling like an idiot at this point. His family, his real family, loved him. And his boyfriend called him ‘love.’ Maybe things weren’t that bad. Complicated, yes. But bad? No.

 

After cuddling for another thirty minutes, Changkyun finally convinced Jooheon to get up so they could go to the cafeteria. After showering and getting dressed, both boys were ready to go.

“Jooheon, you didn’t need to skip class too.” Jooheon was wearing gray sweatpants and a plain black hoodie, his dark hair slightly damp. Such a simple outfit, but it still took Changkyun’s breathe away. 

The older male just shrugged as he held Changkyun’s hand.

Changkyun, himself, was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans with a white hoodie. His caramel hair was already dry and wavy as he had showered first. He was blushing slightly at the looks everyone were giving them. He squeezed the older’s hand tighter, grounding himself. He was wearing the necklace Jooheon said Kihyun had left. It clinged against his chest under his jacket. He and Jooheon figured it would be better if the Dean, nor Ale, saw the necklace.

As they made it to the cafeteria that was not far behind the dorm building, the young freshman was amazed. The inside held high vaulted ceilings draped with the same tapestries of the dorm. The back of the big room dawned a buffet area. The sitting areas were circular tables with about 8 seats per table. In the far left side, close to the buffet, Changkyun saw Minhyuk and Hyungwon sitting at a table with the clan’s symbol on top. It was the only table like that so he figured it was specifically for them.

The to at the table noticed them and began to wave. Hyungwon looked extremely tired, but happy, while Minhyuk looked too excited for it to be morning time. It was like he was on track with the shining of the sun.

After grabbing some fruits, pancakes, and orange juice they joined the others at what Changkyun still assumed was the clan’s table. When they got there Minhyuk showed a quick note that said, “We don’t know if the dean is listening here since we didn’t put up these wards. Talk with caution--Kihyun.”

It makes sense enough to Changkyun.

“How’d you sleep, lovebirds?” Hyungwon asked, eyebrows wiggling.

“You’re one to ask Mr.Cling To Shownu At All Times,” Jooheon retorted, causing Hyungwon to blush slightly and snap a bite of his pancakes.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled.

Changkyun laughed as he sat down between Minhyuk and Jooheon. Minhyuk leaned over and spoke quietly, “How are you feeling today? Still sick?”

Changkyun nodded, “A little, yes. I still have aches. It think it is just a cold. It should go away soon,” he added for authenticity.

Minhyuk nodded in approval, “No class today then?” He looked concerned as he popped five grapes in his mouth at once.

“Nah…,” Changkyun responded, picked at his pancakes, moving them around in the syrup. “I’m lucky to be able to make it here. I don’t want to get anyone else sick either.”

“Yeah, college kids spread sickness like wildfire.” Minhyuk gave a small wink.

The younger choked on the bite of pancake he had finally taken. He just got caught on to the fire reference made by the bright boy.

Jooheon tried to kick Minhyuk under the table, but missed and hit Changkyun’s already aching leg, eliciting a yelp from him. Minhyuk was practically cackling as Jooheon kept trying to apologize. As the younger assured that he was fine, they returned to eating. The others held decent small talk about people they’ve seen on campus, while the youngest stayed silent. It wasn’t awkward though, he was enjoying listening to them. It was a form of normalcy that he needed right now. He was relishing in it. Who knew how long it would last.

Ever since he came to this school, it’s like his world turned upside down. Yet, it was apparently turned upside down the second he was...abducted. Does this make it be turned right-side up now?

He sighed mentally and felt Jooheon’s hand squeeze his thigh in a way that seemed to say things would be okay. It felt reassuring. He must’ve been listening. It would make sense, there’s no doubt that Jooheon is worried after what happened yesterday.

Changkyun ate as much as he could muster before they left, which ended up being half a pancake and two strawberries. Thankfully none of the other members pushed him. They all seemed to understand right now. He was thankful no one was treating him differently now either. He expected worry, but he was also scared that they would change towards him now that he was some prince or whatever. Luckily, they all still talked to them the same. 

He was still new to the group, but it’s like they’ve all known each other for years. Everyone was so comfortable around each other. They even picked on Changkyun from time to time, especially with him being the youngest. 

It was comforting for the four of them to joke around during this hour for breakfast. So comforting that he was sad when Minhyuk and Hyungwon stood up saying they needed to go to class. He was practically pouting.

“Oh, we’ll see you later Changkyunnieeee~ Quit pouting!” Minhyuk said while hugging his shoulders from behind as the younger was still sitting.

Hyungwon had to pry Minhyuk off while he gave protests of, “But he looks so sad! It’s like puppy eyes are tearing into my heaaaaart!”

Hyungwon told him it would be okay and said his goodbyes to the younger two as well seeing that they were almost late.

“Bye!” Jooheon called.

Changkyun smiled softly the whole way back to the dorm. It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear and while it was chilly, it wasn’t freezing.

Jooheon spoke out of nowhere, “Don’t forget to take it off.” It was a simple sentence, unreadable to others, but Changkyun knew too well. The calming feeling was going to have to stop for a bit. 

He couldn’t deny he was scared, but he also wanted to have his memories back. He wanted this uncertainty to be gone, and in order to do that he would need to be okay with being uncomfortable.

Jooheon was unlocking the door when Changkyun’s phone rang. As he took the phone out of his hoodie pouch, he saw that it was Kihyun. The younger was surprised to be getting a call. At this point he thought the other would be in class. 

The boys hurried inside as Changkyun answered the phone. “Kihyun, aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

“Hi, nice to hear from you too. Hell. And it’s an independent study class. We will be having a meeting tonight at 7pm. tonight following your training with Minhyuk at 5pm.. I know you’re tired but we have to work on your memories. I’m hoping you won’t need as much training if you get them back. Tell Jooheon to go with you too, although I doubt you even need to. The little shit is probably listening,” Kihyun stopped speaking as Jooheon cackled.

Changkyun heard Kihyun sigh before hanging up. “Jooheon!!” Changkyun couldn’t help but laugh as well.

He smiled as he leaned closer to Changkyun, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer. The kiss was soft, but their bond made it feel one hundred percent more sensitive. All of their emotions--excitement, happiness, and lust--were passing between each other. By the time they both pulled away, they were left breathless. Changkyun noticed that his necklace was held in his dream boy’s hand.

“Wow,” he whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed to collect himself. 

Jooheon set the necklace down and stood between the younger’s legs and kissed his cheek. “You handled that without the necklace~,” he praised, kissing the younger’s other cheek.

It was hard to believe that something that emotionally involved didn’t affect his powers, but he didn’t want to dwell on it. He was too happy that Jooheon had just kissed him.

“Why don’t you show me some of those pieces you mentioned you professor asked about?” Jooheon had already grabbed the younger’s laptop and got on the bed, motioning for Changkyun to lay beside him.

“Only if you promise not to laugh.”

Changkyun crawled up the bed to lay next to his dream boy. Placing his head on the other’s shoulder, he couldn’t help but think of how his boyfriend really was like a dream. A dream that he never wanted to wake up from.

Jooheon was smiling softly at the screen as the younger directed him to this music files on his computer. Soon enough an upbeat song came on, it was titled “Plan B”.

Jooheon dawned a serious look, but he was bobbing his head along to the beat. “It’s good,” he said, “Really good.” Changkyun’s whole being swelled with happiness. His boyfriend clicked on the next song and Changkyun almost screeched.

“Ah!! No, not that one!” But it was too late. Changkyun’s deep voice came through the speakers as he sang accompanied by a guitar. The track was titled “Instagram Cover.”

Changkyun groaned. He wasn’t really a singer, he raps, but he really liked that song. He didn’t think anyone would end up hearing it.

He hid his face in the elder’s chest as the song played. The guitar solo at the end soothing him a bit as it signaled the end. 

Jooheon hadn’t spoken yet, nor had he changed the song. The wait was agonizing and Changkyun began raising his head, worried. Instead, he saw Jooheon’s eyes fixed on the screen as he smiled wildly. 

“You know...your voice…,” he slowly said, face beginning to blush slightly. “It’s...pretty hot.”

That’s when Changkyun felt the dull emotions of lust creeping into him from the other and felt his face get very warm. A small, “Oh,” was all the younger male could manage. He was trying to ignore the feeling in his stomach. The butterflies. The nervousness.

Their eyes help contact for what felt like years. Jooheon licked his lips and the younger took that as a sign and propped his elbow under himself to lean in to kiss the older’s soft lips, letting his other hand move up and cup his cheek. 

The kiss wasn’t as soft as earlier. It was needier, deeper, darker. The same feelings flowed back into the younger as he assumed they flowed similarly into his boyfriend. Lust sparking more as Jooheon moved to hover over Changkyun without breaking the kiss. 

Jooheon nipped at the younger’s bottom lip before slipping his tongue in, eliciting a soft moan from Changkyun. The younger wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him closer and deepen the kiss even further, during which time Jooheon took the chance to slip his knee between his legs. 

Changkyun couldn’t help the sharp breath followed by a needy moan that came out as soon as Jooheon rubbed his knee upwards givings Changkyun’s hardened member the friction he hadn’t even realized he needed. 

Jooheon smirked down at the squirming body below him, continuing his movements. “You like that do you, love?”

Another rub came, but it was much slower, much more drawn out. He was teasing the younger and was loving every sound he was making when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

“It’s me! Open up!” Wonho’s voice rang through the door.

“Dammit,” Jooheon cursed before giving Changkyun one last kiss and a small smile. “Next time, love.” And with a wink he got up to let Wonho in, leaving Changkyun a panting mess on the bed. 

After a few seconds, he collected himself enough to sit up and pull a pillow into his lap to hide his erection before Wonho walked in. What terrible timing. Changkyun was miserable and wanted nothing more than to lock Wonho out and shove Jooheon back onto the bed.

The youngest couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as Wonho walked in. Mere seconds before, Jooheon was eliciting lude noises from Changkyun.

He saw his boyfriend smirking as he shut the door and followed behind Wonho. The latter waved at Changkyun as he pulled one of the desk chairs by the bed to sit down. “How’re you feeling?” he questioned the younger, concern clear in his tone and face.

Changkyun didn’t have the heart or confidence to say Jooheon had just sparked his emotions to hell and back, and he figured Wonho was referring to yesterday anyways.

He decided to respond, “I’m better than yesterday, just really tired. I still have training soon though.” He tried to sound as casual as possible. 

A small calming wind wrapped around Changkyun, ruffling his hair. “It’s okay to not be okay, Changkyunnie,” Wonho said. It was then that the younger realized he must be an air elementalist. He also realized that there was so much he still needed to learn about the other members who were doing so much to help him. A small tear trickled down the youngest’s check eliciting an “awh,” from Wonho who then came to give him a tight hug. His muscles were suffocating, but Changkyun didn’t want to complain when he was so comforting. He was fine a few seconds ago… Changkyun didn’t get why he was crying now. 

The younger could feel something coming though and he pushed Wonho away, trying not to hurt him.

“Changkyun?” Wonho asked, clearly a little hurt.

“Babe?” Jooheon questioned, rushing out of the bathroom he had went into. He apparently felt it too.   
“Don’t...touch...stay back.” It was happening again. His body was freaking out. He hoped Jooheon understood and would avoid his mind. He really didn’t need a power outburst. 

He wanted to let his memories come, but damn this hurt. As the throbbing in his head turned into an overwhelming ringing, he was suddenly in a huge room with high vaulted ceilings. It was decorated very similar to the cafeteria, except much fancier. There were big, round glass tables with intricate marble stools. The same symbol all over the school adorned the chairs, tables, and walls.

People were everywhere dressed in elegant clothing, very fancy. Changkyun was at the front of the room where three larger red, velvet chairs sat behind a long glass table adorned with large amounts of various foods. 

In the two largest chairs were were fairly young looking adults, maybe mid thirties. The man had dark brown hair and king looking light brown eyes. He was wearing a velvety black suit with a white shirt, red tie, and long red robe that dawned the same ‘m’ and ‘x’ symbol. He was speaking with one of the waiters. 

The woman had beautiful long brunette hair with big light, even kinder looking, brown eyes. SHe was wearing an intricate red dress with gold designs that had an abundance of the clan’s symbols. He hair was curled and partially pulled back and held with a simple gold pin. Her facial features were strikingly similar to the boy who sat between both of the chairs.

That was when Changkyun noticed the younger version of himself. He was dressed almost identically to his father, the only difference being the black clan symbol that was on the side of his neck.

“My son,” the woman said, “It is your 15th birthday. Soon you will learn the true ways of our people--”

“But mother, have I not been doing so already?” young Changkyun interrupted.

Instead of being upset, she just smiled softly and said, “Kyun, there is more to our people that our powers and training. You will be a part of something much bigger than you yet understand.”

The young boy nodded slowly, “Yes mother. I will try my hardest.”

Changkyun of now couldn’t help but smile. He was slowly remembering little things about his mother. Her favorite color; blue like the sky and ocean. He favorite food; fruits because they can be sweet and healthy. Her favorite songs that she sang to him often. 

Suddenly the man tapped young Changkyun’s shoulder. “Yes father?”

The man smiled fondly at his son. “Today is a special day. Your duties will begin to change. Don’t be afraid though.” The boy had a downcast look, nerves shown everywhere. Changkyun couldn’t help but notice that he must have always been bad at hiding his emotions.

“You are more than ready, my son.”

Memories of his father began to come back as well. It was a training sessions that had a very young and small Changkyun on the ground gasping for air. He looked maybe 7 or 8. “Again!” his father said for what seemed like the 50th time that night. 

Then he was suddenly in an open field with his father and the younger Changkyun who seemed to be maybe 5. It was nighttime and Changkyun realized that this was the same field from his nightmares.

“Father, I’m scared,” the young child said, holding his hands close to his sides and clutching his jeans.

“Son, you must learn how to use and control your powers. Now, try to summon fire. We know you have that affinity so far.. His father stood  maybe five feet away, and the Changkyun of now wanted to scream at him. He’s seen this too many times in his dreams to know what comes next. The man couldn’t hear him though; his attempts were futile. 

Young Changkyun put his palm up facing the sky and flames protrude upwards. The problem was that the boy got really excited at what he had done, causing his powers to spike and go haywire. The flames shot out everywhere and almost engulfed both of them. Changkyun of now was screaming at both of them to run before the flames ended up disappearing altogether. 

The edges of the young boy’s shirt were singed and he was crying, but otherwise he had no harm done to himself. Changkyun’s father had a small burn on his arm that he was already healing with his other hand, a small blue light emitting from his palm. Afterwards he simply picked up the small crying boy and spoke calming words of praise to him as they left the field together.

 

Now Changkyun was back in the dorm room, drenched in sweat. He was still sitting straight up on the bed with Wonho next to him and Jooheon right in front of the bed. They were both wide eyed and sweaty too.

“You both… Were you there too..?” Changkyun asked, voice broken up between breaths. The others nodded slowly. After looking at the clock above Jooheon’s desk he realized 30 minutes had passed and he was supposed to meet with Minhyuk for practice in 20 minutes. 

“What happened? Did you… get anymore memories back?” Jooheon asked.

Funnily enough, Changkyun had almost all of his memories back. He remembers his family, his power training, his old life, but it all stops at his 15th birthday ceremony. The night he was to pick a clan. 

“Everything until the middle of my 15th birthday ceremony,” he finally responded with after collecting his thoughts. This was all tiring. Sure his memories were back, but merely five days ago he led such a different, calmer life.

Wonho was already texting Kihyun as Changkyun noticed with their close proximity. 

“Those guys must really have not wanted you to expose them,” Wonho said, eyebrows furrowed. “I can’t wait to bash their heads in… They messed with the wrong clan.”

Just yesterday Wonho seemed so timid about even remotely assuming anyone was bad, but now his whole demeanor changed. Changkyun assumed it must be something about his bond to the clan members. Wonho seemed to truly be passionate about them all.

“I was supposed to be inducted that night wasn’t I?” Changkyun asked, looking at his hands in his lap. There was no need to worry about control now. He had remembered his training. That didn’t settle his nerves though. 

Jooheon spoke next, “Yes… everyone our age was there. We were to be prospects for you. Even at such young ages, you and whomever you chose were to be formed and inducted into a clan.”

Changkyun remembered. It was tradition for the prince or princess to grow up being the leader of a clan so that they would have more experience to rule. These clans would ultimately be a part of their royal court and guards as well. There were many clans within their people, like the one here at the school, and this was very similar. Everyone was just inducted much earlier than normal. It was dangerous and usually members had to be picked very carefully to avoid situations like #Gun. 

“You disappeared before anyone was picked, however.” Jooheon now sat on the bed next to his boyfriend as well. Their mere closeness calmed the younger down some. 

Changkyun was talking to his parents during the party, but that’s where his memory stops. Although having his memories back did solve some problems as well as fill the nagging void within himself, Changkyun couldn’t help but think that things still weren’t much better. There were still so many unknown things. Even so, he was happy to know where he belonged now.

“I need to see them.. My parents.” The youngest said. He knows that they must feel distraught.

“We need to wait. We don’t know who or what is tracking you yet.” Wonho said. He saw Jooheon nod as well and knew they were both right, but he couldn’t help the feeling of disappointed that pulled at his heart. He wanted to hug them, to tell them he was okay.

Jooheon wrapped an arm around his waist. “Hey… I promise we will get you back to them soon safely, okay? Don’t fret~” he said before placing a kiss on the younger’s cheek.

Changkyun nodded before standing up to shower and change. Being alone in the shower was nice. It gave him time to think about everything. Who could have done this to him? He remembered his father acting weird the morning of the ceremony, placing more guards around the castle than normal. He wonders if they received some type of warning from the future see-ers. It was a rare ability, but a few people stayed in the castle with the ability for necessary purposes. Many future see-ers were hunted down and tortured to give people prophecies and the likes.

“The castle…,” he thought, “ahh… I miss it.” He groaned. Why did things have to be so complicated?

By the time he finished his shower and got dressed, it was time to go. He wore similar sweatpants and the same black hoodie as before with a white t-shirt underneath. 

It was going to be a long night. Jooheon mentioned his training was changing to that of testing and combat than that of control. Shownu was going to be the one doing his training now. Jooheon explained that his powers were that of healing healing, but that his leadership and strength made him perfect for the job.

Kihyun seems to have guessed that the younger got his control back with most of his memories. This was true to an extent. While he can control his own powers, his use of the other powers in their realm was still limited. He tried using many of the ones he had learned before; earth affinity, teleportation, telekinesis, etc. But the only ones he could manage were Jooheon’s mind reading and Wonho’s air affinity. 

“Maybe the proximity thing is still happening… It may be connected to ‘those’ memories…” he thought aloud.

Jooheon nodded. “It’s possible.”

The evening air was crisp, but not too cold. They had made it to the gym now and Jooheon and Wonho were about to leave.

“I have something… important… to tell everyone at the meeting tonight,”  Changkyun spoke softly. There was something his family was hiding from almost everyone, and Changkyun figured it has something to do with why he was taken.

They both nodded, not pressing the matter any further although they both looked--and Jooheon felt--worried. 

“I will see you at the meeting,” the younger spoke as he turned around and opened the door to the gym. 

Stepping through the door into the main training area, he couldn’t help but sigh. Things weren’t supposed to be this complicated now that his memories came back, but they seemed almost the same if not worse.

_ I am a Lim, dammit. I can handle this. _

Shownu was standing in the middle of the mat area, wrapping his hands. He wore a white tank top and blue sweatpants, but no shoes.

“Why are you wrapping your hands?” Changkyun asked, surprised he hadn’t startled the other in the slightest. 

“It is to keep me from accidentally healing you. You have to be able to take a hit,” he responded flatly, almost as it is was a matter of fact. Like it was something he should have expected. Maybe it was. He vaguely remembers his father doing and saying something similar.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” the younger mumbled.

“Let’s begin with simple conditioning today.”

They spent the first thirty minutes stretching. Shownu was very particular about it. He didn’t want the younger to get hurt at all.

It made sense when the rest of the training started though. Although his memories were back, he hadn’t trained in years. His body wasn’t moving as easily and fluidly as he remembered. His punches seemed delayed, kicks too high or low, and blocks too weak. 

It was maybe another 30 minutes before Changkyun started keeping up with Shownu, his skills becoming familiar to his body again. It was difficult, but it went by rather smoothly. Most of Changkyun’s moves began to stay with him and at one point he was even able to take Shownu off guard and pin him down, making him tap out. By this point Shownu said that was enough for physical training and he stated that he was quite surprised with the younger’s abilities considering how small he was.

Changkyun wasn’t sure if he should have been offended or not as he heard the older boy chuckled.

“My dad said the same thing very often,” he replied simply. “When did you learn how to move and fight like that?”

Shownu’s eyebrows furrowed, questioningly before they softened and he sighed. “My was from a healer family, but my mother was from a family specified in strength based abilities. I got my father’s abilities and she wasn’t too happy. She decided that I would compensate by extreme physical training. My would hurt like hell, but it healed quickly on it’s own. Healing doesn’t always relieve pain, though. I can do pain relieving spell, but she wouldn’t let me. She was determined to toughen me up.” He was looking at the ground, slowly unwrapping his hands.

“That sounds terrible…” the younger spoke softly. He remembers training with his father being rough and often dangerous, but alway caring. It sounds like she was trying to make Shownu something he wasn’t.

“I used to believe she hated for how I was born. One day, I saw my grandmother slap her for disrespecting and disgracing the family with a bad birth,” he stopped unwrapping his hands gripping the unraveled pieces tightly, “My mother yelled, louder than she ever yelled at me in trained. She yelled ‘My son is not a bad birth, nor a disgrace! And she told her that I was stronger in mind than anyone else in my family. After that, she let up a bit on my training. I pushed it further though. I wanted to make her family feel ashamed of themselves.”

At this, the older finished unwrapping his hands completely and looked at Changkyun, ending the conversation.

Shownu thoroughly surprised the younger. Changkyun didn’t expect him to show or have many emotions, but honestly he may have the strongest and purest emotions out of everyone in the clan. It was easy to see how he is the leader now. He is a better leader than Changkyun could ever have hoped to be himself when he was younger. It was inspiring.

“I hope you don’t think that you are done,” Shownu said suddenly, making the younger groan.

“I thought you said that was enough!”

“For the combat portion… You still need some conditioning though. Stretch again briefly and then move on to doing pull ups and crunches. 100 each. After that do 20 laps around the gym floor.” Changkyun had hoped the other was joking, but his face was dead serious as he turned around and walked towards the punching bags in the far right corner and put on a pair of gloves. They must be new considering they looked unmarked. Had he destroyed what they had before??

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Changkyun mumbled as he got on the ground for crunches. 

“Quit grumbling over there,” Shownu called before hitting the bag creating a loud thud that resonated in the gym.

This was going to be a long practice.

An hour later he was finished and exhausted. Shownu had to heal his muscles for him to even be able to stand and walk properly. He tried to heal him enough to avoid being too sore the following day as well. Changkyun couldn’t even begin to say how thankful he was. Especially with classes happening. 

It was odd to think he was in college. His parents hadn’t even sent his to schools ran by power people as he grew up so college was iffy for them, especially with his duties as a prince. He wasn’t even sure they would approve of him rapping and making music. He hadn’t done it much before the memory loss, but he knew he couldn’t stop now. It became a part of him. 

It was a quiet walk to the apartment for the meeting, but it wasn’t awkward for the two. Things felt comfortable. Shownu was like a big brother at this point, but he wasn’t too scary. Sure, he was extremely strong, but even during training he was very careful with Changkyun when necessary while still pushing him to do better.

It was still chilly outside, but it was nice to be outside. The air comforted his red blotchy face from exercising, and the night sky comforted him too. The simple things in life like this were what Changkyun assumed would get him through for now. It was rough for him now, but the nature around him seemed so simple.

After being in the cold for so long it was nice to arrive at the warm apartment. Everyone grabbed food and filed into the living room.

Hyungwon sat on Shownu’s lap on the far left of the couch. Minhyuk laid on Kihyun’s lap on the right side despites his protests. Wonho sat between Kihyun’s knees on the floor, pulling his legs over his broad shoulders. Jooheon sat next to Changkyun on the opposite couch from the other. This was slightly nerve wracking, but Changkyun knew he needed to tell them everything.

“What do you think triggered the memories?” Hyungwon asked before popping a few grapes in his mouth and a few in Shownu’s.

Changkyun knew good and well it had a lot to do with Jooheon and all of the emotional stimulation he created with what they had done.

“Too much emotional stimulation,” was all he responded with. He felt Jooheon snickering beside him and lightly elbowed him. Avoiding everyone’s gaze, Changkyun continued, “I have all of my memories up until part of the way through my birthday ceremony when I was kidnapped. That’s the only thing I cannot remember. I have no clue how or what happened, nor who took me. It’s so frustrating.” He was squeezing his fists when he saw Minhyuk sit up a little across the room. “No need, Minhyukie. I have control again as well.” Minhyuk nodded, but didn’t lay back down. Everyone seemed slightly tense.

“There’s something else. Something my family has kept hidden for centuries. I think it has something to do with why I was taken. You must not tell anyone.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Changkyun waited until he looked into everyone’s eyes. He wanted them to see he trusted them with this information.

“Very few people outside of my family know this. Our blood… the blood of the Lim’s… it can be used to give non-power people powers. The problem is that the engulfation rate is extremely high. It’s far too dangerous. They only get one affinity/power even though it is our blood. This may be why I was taken though. The Silks have been trying to take over my family’s reign for years. They could be build an army off of two pricks of my finger…” Everyone’s eyes were wide, excluding Kihyun. His were scrunched in confusion.

“I’ve never heard of this… But I do know of the rebel group,” Kihyun said with his eyes still scrunched focusing on his hands. 

“Do you think they have some of your blood?” Shownu asked?

“There’s no guarantee. My healing abilities were strong before I was taken, but there’s no clue about what happened when they began messing with my memories and power blocking me.”

The room stayed silent for a moment. Changkyun was avoiding everyone’s eyes. He really didn’t want to bring them into a possible war. Yes, there were his clan-mates, but they were also people who had their own lives barely five days ago. 

“We aren’t letting you handle this alone, Changkyun.” Jooheon was serious in tone even though he lightly elbowed the younger. 

“You better get it through your head that we are now one,” Wonho said while smiling too brightly compared to the situation. He looked almost like a bunny.

Hyungwon nodded, shifting slightly on Shownu, “Seriously. It’s hard to see because of how soon things are, but we all care. Not only because you are our Prince, but because you are our friend.” Everyone nodded quickly and enthusiastically. 

A surge of pride and thankfulness flooded the boy all at one time. Not from his soulmate, but from himself. This clan… although he didn’t choose them like tradition said, he didn’t care one bit. They were his clan, his home.

A small, “Thank you,” was all the younger could manage before there was a knock at the door.

Jooheon spoke almost immediately, “It’s your uncle, Kihyun.”

The older boy nodded before stepping out. He came back with a man almost the same size as Shownu and Wonho. He was very muscular and had dusty blonde hair with deep brown eyes. He wore all black, which was a stark contrast to his hair and fair skin. Changkyun knew exactly who stood before him.

“Andre??” The youngest questioned before standing up to give his old guardian and trainer a hug. “How good it is to see you!”

“Kyun!” Andre was about the same age as his father. The others were completely baffled as they saw the hug unfold.

“Woah, wait.” Kihyun said, “I knew you were a guard at the castle, but I didn’t know you two were this close.”

Changkyun swore he felt a twinge of jealousy come from his soulmate.

“Andre was one of my personal guards and trainers as I grew up. He’s part of my father’s clan from when he was a prince.” Kihyun stood in udder shock. It was so surprising to see him this baffled and Changkyun had to hide his soft chuckles. Something was sparked in the younger though, a question. “But you weren’t at the ceremony that day, what happened?”

Sighing, Andre motioned for everyone to sit down as he grabbed a chair from the dining room. Jooheon wrapped an arm around the younger’s shoulders, pulling him closer into him. Changkyun didn’t dare to protest considering the jealous feeling he kept getting from Jooheon.

_ Quit being jealous babe~ Hell, he’s half my age. He practically raised me with my parents. _ He thought this rather loudly, eliciting a cough from his boyfriend. Changkyun leaned onto his chest to reassure the other.

Andre looked around the room, taking in who was all there before continuing. “We got a tip about a possible attack the night of your ceremony. We went to check it out, but it was a trap. I was held up in a fight while the others moved in to take you. They took advantage of the fact that your guard was out. I was foolish for not seeing through the trap. I’m lucky the Queen and King felt otherwise. They’ve stationed me in the group to look for you. It’s been four long years, Prince. We still have no clue who took you. My powers have been of no use.” 

He had the same knowledge expansion powers as Kihyun. His brain was expansive and full of information. One can only utilize what they know though, things they have seen and analyzed. 

“We actually have a clan hidden on this campus. The leader goes by RM. They have Yoongi, Jin, Jhope, V, and Jungkook.”

These were all names Changkyun had heard of as he grew up. They were some of the trainees with great promise. His parents often spoke of them as they were trying to help him decide on his primary clan mates. It wasn’t until then that he realized he ran into Yoongi the other day. 

“I saw Yoongi, I’m surprised he didn’t recognize me.”

“Well your hair is dyed and you have grown a lot so you really do look much different than before. I almost didn’t recognize you. I wouldn’t have known it was you if I hadn’t seen your face so much as your guard.” The others nodded in agreement. They must not have recognized him for the same reasons. Changkyun didn’t remember formally meeting any of them before, be they were all at the royal parties as they were also high up on the trainee prospect lists.

Andre continued speaking, bringing the youngest out of his thoughts, “Even is he had recognized you, he couldn’t have told us. We lost all communication with them a month ago.”

“You don’t think they have a mind manipulator do you?” Wonho asked Kihyun.

Kihyun was pondering his brain when Andre spoke instead. “Who?”

Shownu peaked around Hyungwon’s shoulder to speak. “We think there is someone on campus who is responsible for this stuff. It may be the Silks. The Dean seems to be in on it as well. Changkyun’s old roommate’s name was Alexandre and he had contact with a man named Darius who posed as Changkyun’s uncle while he didn’t have memories.” Hyungwon leaned back onto the other’s chest to allow him to be seen easier.

Changkyun finished explaining, adding the details of his so-called parents, his scholarship to the school, his meeting with the dean, all of his interactions with his roommate, and the call with fake father. It amazing to think that it all had happened in such a short span of time.

“Well, damn. Things are pretty messed up right now. Kihyun informed me about you condition, but it seems like your memories are back Kyun, right?” Andre arched and eyebrow at the younger.

“It’s been a long day dude.” Everyone chuckled lightly at the joking yet serious manner the younger portrayed.

“Well, we need to get you out of here the, Kyun.”

“I’m not leaving without my clan.” His tone was serious and he hoped Andre understood.

“Prince… your safety is my priority.” Andre’s eyes were furrowed. He seemed to be ready to argue and Changkyun was ready to shut it down.

“And there safety is mine. You of all people should understand that I have a duty to them not only as a prince, but as a clan member. They are my clan. I am their member. I’m not leaving them..” The others didn’t speak. They all seemed taken aback.

Andre simply nodded. “I will go then. I need to make my report at the palace. I will set up and excapade mission for Friday.”

“The dean should be busy with school event the night since it is the first week back, but the clan will easily be noticed as missing,” Kihyun said, “We will need to be careful.”

Andre nodded. “Trust me, we will have plenty of back up. I will keep in touch with updates. I must leave though.” He stood up and Changkyun followed suit to hug him. Andre bowed to him before waving at the others and leaving.

This was going to be a long week.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter~~ I threw in an almost smut part lolol. It was my first time writing anything like that so I'm sorry if it sounded odd. Don't forget to leave kudos or comments on what you think! Thank you for reading!


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